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Baby-led approaches to complementary feeding promote intake of family foods rather than infant specific foods, from the start of the complementary feeding period, which advocates suggest should be less expensive. However, this has never been formally examined. We recently completed a 2-year randomised controlled trial comparing baby-led (BLISS) and traditional spoon-feeding (Control) approaches to complementary feeding in 206 infants. Perceived expense was assessed at infant 7, 8, 9 and 12 months of age. The actual cost of intake (food offered, consumed and left over) was calculated from 3-day weighed diet records at 7 and 12 months of age. BLISS was perceived as less expensive than traditional feeding (P = 0.002), but comparisons of actual costs showed only small differences in total daily cost for food offered (NZ$0.20 and NZ$0.10 at 7 and 12 months, respectively), consumed (NZ$0.30, NZ$0.20) or left over (NZ$0.10, NZ$0.20). Baby-led approaches are not cheaper for families than traditional spoon-feeding., Author(s): S. Bacchus [sup.1], R. W. Taylor [sup.2], E. A. Fleming [sup.1], J. J. Haszard [sup.3], L. Fangupo [sup.1], L. Daniels [sup.1], A.-L. M. Heath [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) Department [...]

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Previous research has shown, in predominantly European populations, that dietary patterns are evident early in life. However, little is known about early-life dietary patterns in Australian children. We aimed to describe dietary patterns of Australian toddlers and their associations with socio-demographic characteristics and adiposity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Principal component analysis was applied to 3 days (1 x 24-h recall and 2 x 24-h record) data of 14 (n = 552)- and 24 (n = 493)-month-old children from two Australian studies, NOURISH and South Australian Infant Dietary Intake (SAIDI). Associations with dietary patterns were investigated using regression analyses. RESULTS: Two patterns were identified at both ages. At 14 months, the first pattern was characterised by fruit, grains, vegetables, cheese and nuts/seeds ('14-month core foods') and the second pattern was characterised by white bread, milk, spreads, juice and ice-cream ('basic combination'). Similarly, at 24 months the '24-month core foods' pattern included fruit, vegetables, dairy, nuts/seeds, meat and water, whereas the 'non-core foods' included white bread, spreads, sweetened beverages, snacks, chocolate and processed meat. Lower maternal age and earlier breastfeeding cessation were associated with higher 'basic combination' and 'non-core foods' pattern scores, whereas earlier and later solid introduction were associated with higher 'basic combination' and '24-month core foods' pattern scores, respectively. Patterns were not associated with body mass index (BMI) z-score. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary patterns reflecting core and non-core food intake are identifiable in Australian toddlers. These findings support the need to intervene early with parents to promote healthy eating in children and can inform future investigations on the effects of early diet on long-term health. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) 67, 638-645; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2013.23; published online 27 February 2013 Keywords: dietary patterns; PCA; Australia; socio-demographic; BMI, INTRODUCTION Nutritional research has expanded to consider whole diet in addition to individual nutrients and foods. (1) Summarising multiple dietary components into an overall diet measure takes into account correlations [...]