Weaning practices in the United Kingdom and variations in anthropometric development

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Human Nutrition
• Growth and Development

Background:

• Changing infant feeding practices, including bottle-feeding and varied weaning ages, necessitate an updated understanding of infant growth.
• Previous reference curves may not accurately reflect current infant growth trajectories due to evolving dietary habits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of different weaning practices on dietary energy intake and growth patterns in Cambridge infants.
• To compare the growth of infants with varying feeding methods (bottle-fed vs. breast-fed) and weaning ages against established reference curves.

Main Methods:

• Tracking growth parameters (weight, length, skinfold thickness) in four infant groups based on feeding method and weaning age.
• Comparing observed growth velocities and anthropometric measurements against National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and Tanner reference curves.

Main Results:

• Bottle-fed infants and those weaned earlier received solids sooner than breast-fed infants weaned later.
• All groups displayed distinct growth patterns compared to reference curves, with faster initial growth velocity in the first three months.
• Later-weaned infants, especially breast-fed boys, exhibited slower post-three-month growth velocity, with skinfold thicknesses generally around the 10th centile.

Conclusions:

• Current infant feeding patterns have led to altered growth trajectories compared to historical reference data.
• Bottle-feeding and earlier introduction of solids result in growth patterns similar to earlier-weaned breast-fed infants.
• Infant growth is significantly influenced by contemporary feeding practices, suggesting a need for updated growth monitoring standards.