For the first time, the United States government is adding infants and toddlers from birth to age two to its official advice on diet and nutrition. Because, you know, infants and toddlers are also humans who can benefit from healthy nutrition habits. Especially given that, as the new advisory report states, “nutritional exposures during the first 1,000 days of life not only contribute to long-term health but also help shape taste preferences and food choices.”
The first edition of the report, co-developed by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS), will advise the final 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which will be published by the end of the year. So far, the recommendations include:
Starting solid foods at six months old
The USDA and HHS’s recommendation for starting infants on solid foods differs slightly from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends starting “complementary feeding” between four and six months of age. While the USDA states that solid foods should not be introduced prior to four months old, “the committee found that introduction at age four to five months, as compared to six months, does not offer long-term advantages or disadvantages with respect to the outcomes reviewed.”
So in other words, you might was well wait until six months old—there’s no reason to rush it.
Introducing egg and peanut early
The USDA and HHS are following in the AAP’s footsteps on this one; last year, the AAP shifted from recommending delaying allergen introduction to early allergen introduction, particularly for infants at risk for developing a food allergy.
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But the government’s recommendation goes one step further in recommending the introduction of peanut and egg, in age-appropriate form, in the first year of life (but after four months of age at the earliest) to all infants because it may reduce the risk of an allergy to these foods:
The evidence for such protective effects is less clear for other types of foods, but the committee found no evidence that avoiding such foods in the first year of life is beneficial with regard to preventing food allergies or other atopic diseases.
Following this ‘food pattern’ for toddlers 12-24 months old
For toddlers ages 12 to 24 months who do not consume breastmilk or formula, the committee is recommending a diet that includes meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy products, as well as nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables and grain products:
Key aspects to emphasize include choosing potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, prioritizing seafood, making whole grains the predominant type of grains offered, and choosing oils over solid fats.
And they reiterate some of the more common nutritional advice given for infants and toddlers, including that parents should avoid allowing children under two to consumer sugar-sweetened beverages and that breastfeeding is the best option when possible.
You can click here to read the full report, which also for the first time includes guidelines for women who are pregnant or lactating. The USDA and HHS are holding a virtual meeting on the report on Aug. 11 to hear comments from the public. You can register for that meeting here.
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