With a consensus reached at the Centre for
Food & Allergy Research (CFAR) Australian Infant Feeding Guidelines Summit on recommended updates to current Australian
infant feeding guidelines, parents have been provided with greater clarity on
infant feeding. However, one area of infant feeding which is less clearly
defined is the role of whole grain in early nutrition.
GLNC’s Nutrition Program
Manager, Chris Cashman, outlines the recent recommended updates in infant
feeding guidelines and discusses the challenges of providing specific whole
grain recommendations for infants.
Starting a
healthy habit with whole grains in early life
At the recent Centre for Food & Allergy Research
(CFAR) Australian Infant Feeding Guidelines Summit, held in May, a resounding agreement was reached by
all participants who included key research and industry bodies, on updates to
Australian infant feeding advice. While the updates translate the available
evidence to optimise food allergy management and treatments, they apply
to all infants and include the following recommendations to change the current
Australian infant feeding guidelines:
1)
When
your infant is ready, at around 6 months, but not before 4 months, start to
introduce a variety of solid foods, starting with iron rich foods, while
continuing breastfeeding.
2)
All
infants should be given allergenic solid foods including peanut butter, cooked
egg and dairy and wheat products in the first year of life. This includes
infants at high risk of allergy.
This consensus provides parents, educators and health
professionals with more clarify around the introduction of foods in the first
year of life, however one aspect of infant feeding recently brought to GLNC’s
attention as part of the annual review of the Code of Practice for Whole Grain Ingredient Content
Claims, is that there is a lack of guidance for
parents and educators when it comes to whole grain food recommendations for
infants (7-12 months).
The absence of a specific guidance on whole grain food intake
recommendations in infant feeding guidelines is a reflection of the lack of
research on whole grain intakes of children and health. In consultation with paediatric Accredited Practising Dietitians, GLNC determined that a
specific whole grain ingredient content claim or recommendation for infants (7
– 12 months) was not appropriate to be included in the GLNC Code of Practice for Whole Grain Ingredient Content
Claims. This is based on the fact that infants
are highly variable in their development so requirements will vary. A set
recommendation will not be applicable to all infants and may lead a parent to
feed their child amounts of whole grain beyond their needs and thus increase
risk of excessive fibre intakes (and risk of constipation or satiation leading
to suboptimal breastmilk intake).
However, while advice around whole grain food intake is not specified in infant
feeding guidelines, this is not to say that whole grain foods such as wholemeal
bread, rusks or other cereals cannot be offered in alignment with infant
feeding guidelines to infants in their first year of life. Australian
infant feeding guidelines encourage parents to start to introduce a variety of solid foods, when
an infant is ready, at around 6 months but not before 4 months, while
continuing breastfeeding. Guidelines suggest starting with iron rich foods
which can include grain foods and legumes. When it comes to whole grain
choices, GLNC encourages the inclusion of some whole grain foods in to the diet
of infants to promote healthy habits from a young age. Parents should however
be aware of choking risks of intact grains.
Beyond the
first year of life, for generally healthy toddlers dietary recommendations are
based around choosing a variety of foods within each food group, at an
appropriate overall intake for an individual child to support their growth and
development, avoiding choking hazards. Offering whole grain foods from an early
age, contributes towards the whole grain Daily Target Intake (DTI) for
children 1-3 years which is 24 grams and the DTI for children 4- 8 years which is
32-40 grams.
