Introduction of new food textures during complementary feeding: Observations in France

Complementary feeding plays a crucial role in the development of infants and toddlers and studies suggest benefits specific to the introduction of food textures.

Evaluate the recommendations given to parents, their practices, and their attitudes towards the introduction of food textures during complementary feeding in France.

This was a cross-sectional pilot study conducted in 2013. One hundred and eighty-one parents with at least one child aged 6-36 months living in France completed an ad hoc questionnaire.

Eighty-eight percent of the parents surveyed received oral information on complementary feeding, but only 46% received such information on the introduction of food textures. Pediatricians were the most frequently listed source of oral information on complementary feeding. More than half the parents also looked for additional information in books and on the internet. While oral recommendations matched parents' practices, they seemed to occur at a later age compared to infants' physiological ability to handle new textures. The quality of information on food texture advice available in paper and electronic formats evaluated using a 4-point scale was found to be limited. Introducing new food texture was spontaneously reported as the most common difficulty in complementary feeding (16%). Fear of choking when first introducing food pieces was reported by 54% of the parents.

The parents' lack of information on the introduction of food textures, as well as their fear that their child may choke, should encourage providing new recommendations in France.