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A study from the University of Otago has debunked fears parents may have around new methods of feeding babies.
Lead author Alice Cox said concern was frequently expressed about babies who consumed baby food pouches being at risk of overfeeding, while those who were baby-led weaning, where babies skip being spoon-fed purées and feed themselves finger foods instead, being at risk of underfeeding.
Babies are typically introduced to solid foods by being spoon-fed purées, with gradual progression to mashed, chopped, and finally whole finger foods.
However, in the last decade, the invention of baby food pouches, which now make up 70 percent of baby food available to buy, and the rise in popularity of baby-led weaning have changed this.
Cox said the researchers found neither method had a significant impact on infants' appetite or weight.
"Even though baby food pouches are widely available, less than a third of the babies in our study were given baby food pouches daily," she said.
"And even though there has been some concerns about overfeeding, babies who were having pouches the most often didn't have higher energy intakes than the babies who weren't having them as often.
"And some believe that babies will eat less if they are left to feed themselves, but the results of our study don't support that."
She said while some health professionals were worried using baby food pouches might lead to overfeeding, their concerns "seem to be based on opinion and not scientific evidence".
Babies who were following a baby-led approach were growing as well as those who were spoon-fed, and were no more likely to be over or underweight.
"We were actually surprised to learn that babies who followed baby-led weaning ate a little bit more than babies who were spoon-fed, Cox said.
"They also got slightly more energy from foods than babies who were spoon-fed, but not enough to affect their weight.
"This may have been due to the differences in the types of foods that they were offered, and we're looking at this now."
The publication, Baby food pouches and Baby-Led Weaning: Associations with energy intake, eating behaviour and infant weight status, is part of the First Foods New Zealand study, conducted by students at Otago University and Massey University in Auckland, and funded by the Health Research Council.
"These results are only a very small snippet of what the first food study has covered," Cox said.
"We have got a lot of other interesting questions to answer, like things to do with babies' overall diet, oral health and choking risk.
"We're in the process of answering those at the moment, and then we hope that eventually the bigger picture will help to inform recommendations for health professionals and whānau."