Finger food helps babies to stave off obesity in later life

ALLOWING children to eat solid “finger food” rather than spoon-feeding them purees means they are less likely to suffer obesity-related illness as they grow up, a new report has claimed.

Youngsters reared on baby food had a sweeter tooth than those who ate solids such as toast, and were less likely to like carbohydrates, according to a study of 155 children aged between 20 months and six years.

This was despite the fact that along with sweet foods, children in the spoon-fed group had also been offered carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, proteins and whole meals, such as lasagne, more often than their peers in the baby-led weaning group. “Our study suggests that baby-led weaning has a positive impact on the liking for foods that form the building blocks of healthy nutrition, such as carbohydrates,” the authors – a pair of researchers from Nottingham University – said in the report.

More children in the spoon-fed group were overweight/obese than those in the baby led group, who tended to be an appropriate weight for their height, age, and gender. “This has implications for combating the well-documented rise of obesity in contemporary societies.”

Co-author psychologist Dr Ellen Townsend, whose findings are published in BMJ Open, said: “Although numerous studies have focused on when to introduce solid foods into an infant’s diet, there is a dearth of evidence concerning the impact of different weaning methods on food preferences and health prospects.

“We believe our report is the first piece of research to examine whether weaning method can influence food preferences and the future health of the child.”