New Resource on Feeding Guidelines For Infants & Toddlers

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New guidelines are out from Healthy Eating Research (HER) for Health Professionals on infant and toddler feeding.

Evidence shows that the first 1,000 days or the period from conception to age two for children are critical in obesity prevention.

Many Latino children often deal with unhealthy weights due to more consumption of sugary drinks, less access to healthy foods and limited breastfeeding opportunities.

With the new evidence-based guidelines from HER parents can find out what and how to feed infants and toddlers as well as how to address screen time, media use, sleep and other topics that impact childhood weight outcomes.

Some of the main recommendations of the review include:

• Encouraging breastfeeding from birth until 6 months and after adding complimentary foods, and continuing breastfeeding till the child reaches age 1 to help prevent obesity
• Pregnant mothers to include a variety of vegetables and fruits while pregnant and breastfeeding
• Include a variety of soft fruits and vegetables, changing texture as the child grows older
• Introduce healthy foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains somewhere between 4 and 6 months of age
• Children not to consume foods rich in added sugars (i.e. desserts and sugary drinks), sodium and added saturated fats
• Role model new vegetables by eating them in front of the child and/or pairing them with what the infant/toddler knows and likes already (red bell peppers w/ yellow squash)
• Responding to a child’s emotions when indicating hunger while limiting distractions such as T.V. and giving the child healthy foods, while being emotionally supportive
• Sleeping cycles are also noted, which if not properly regulated with the child’s sleep cycle, can impact unhealthy eating behaviors
• As the child grow older experts also recommend avoiding distractions at mealtimes, by avoiding screen time (TV/phones/ipads) and more verbal and non-verbal interactions between the caregiver and the infant/toddler

The report goes into further details about physical activity considerations for infants/toddlers as well as recognizing the child’s satiety cues.

To learn more about this evidence-based guideline on helping children grow up to be a healthy weight, click here.