Alice Cox – PhD candidate exit seminar

Complementary feeding and appetite regulation in New Zealand infants.

Supervisors

• Professor Rachael Taylor
• Professor Anne-louise Heath
• Associate Professor Jill Haszard

Complementary feeding practices play an important role in nutrition-related outcomes.

Baby food pouches dominate commercial infant food markets in many developed countries, but some health professionals worry that these novel packaging devices may contribute to overfeeding and poorer eating behaviour development. However, due to the lack of published data, these concerns seem to be based on opinion rather than scientific evidence.

Baby-led weaning is another infant feeding practice that has grown in popularity. Advocates suggest that this approach may lower the risk of overfeeding and lead to healthier eating behaviours when compared to parent-led spoon-feeding. On the other hand, there is concern that young infants who follow baby-led weaning may not be able to feed themselves enough to support growth requirements. To date, however, current evidence is mixed and subject to methodological limitations, and further research is required to determine the nutritional safety of baby-led weaning.

My PhD is part of the First Foods New Zealand study – a large observational study of complementary feeding practices (baby food pouches and baby-led weaning) and nutrition-related outcomes during infancy. I will present the results of my research that examined the relationships of each of these feeding practices with energy intake, weight status and appetite-related eating behaviours.