Foods intended specifically for infants and young children are considered under European community law and are defined in specific commission directives. In principal, these directives conclude that such foods must be safe, have a special composition, be distinguishable from normal foods, be suitable for fulfilling particular nutritional requirements, and should, when marketed, indicate such su...

the children. Pumpkin tested positive in one infant who had presented with rectal bleeding. Majority of the children had positive tests to multiple foods. Only 14% of the children had negative tests. The commonest gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms were abdominal pain (38%), constipation (36%), vomiting (14%), diarrhoea (11%), failure to thrive (9%) and colics (3%). Majority of the children had mul...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Infants are traditionally introduced to solid foods using spoon-feeding of specially prepared infant foods. RECENT FINDINGS However, over the last 10-15 years, an alternative approach termed 'baby-led weaning' has grown in popularity. This approach involves allowing infants to self-feed family foods, encouraging the infant to set the pace and intake of the meal. Proponents o...

PURPOSE Suboptimal infant and child feeding practices are highly prevalent in many developing countries for reasons that are not entirely understood. Taking an anthropological perspective, we assessed whether nulliparous youth have formulated attitudes and expectations in the domain of infant and child feeding behaviors, the extent to which these varied by location and gender, and the extent to...

If we are to reduce the incidence of iron deficiency, parents need more education in how to prevent it. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional problem in early childhood in the UK and may adversely affect development. Breast milk, infant formulae and follow-on formulae all provide enough absorbable iron for the young infant, but the iron content in cow's milk is poorly absorbed. Problem...

A prospective cohort study of 1,520 mothers from Zhejiang province of China was undertaken to determine the duration of breastfeeding and associated factors during the first six months postpartum. Most (95.3%) mothers had introduced complementary foods by six months, making them at risk from contaminated infant formula. The mean duration of'any breastfeeding' was greater than 180 days but only ...

According to the European Food Safety Authority, currently, there are no reliable data or robust guidelines available in relation to the micronutrient composition of infant foods. This study evaluated the intake of vitamins A and E of infants from 'ready-to-feed' foods and formulas. Normal phase high performance liquid chromatography was employed for simultaneous quantification of retinyl aceta...

BACKGROUND The early introduction of solid foods before 4 months of age has been associated with an increased risk of diarrhoea in infancy and a greater risk of wheeze and increased percentage body fat and weight in childhood. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of compliance with national recommendations related to the timing of the introduction of solid foods and to describe t...

This study assessed concentrations in and intake of toxic and essential elements from formulas and foods intended for infants during their first 6months of life. Concentrations of the essential elements Ca, Fe, Zn, Mn and Mo were significantly higher in most formulas than in breast milk. Daily intake of Mn from formula varies from ten up to several hundred times the intake of the breast fed inf...