Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2025
A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity
Published on: August 21, 2015
The Ingestion Question: Public Knowledge of Safe Food Introduction in Children
Alexander Treble1, Jennifer M Siu1, Yasmine Madan1
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Insights
Many parents offer high-risk foods, like nuts, too early to young children. This study highlights a gap in public knowledge about safe food introduction ages, especially for choking hazards.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Public Health Knowledge
- Food Safety Education
Background:
- National guidelines recommend delaying solid food introduction until 4-6 months and avoiding high-risk foods until age 4 years.
- Food aspiration remains a significant cause of preventable pediatric emergencies.
- Understanding public knowledge on safe food introduction is crucial for prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess public knowledge regarding the safe age for introducing various foods to children.
- To identify if demographic factors influence this knowledge.
- To correlate public knowledge with institutional data on food-related foreign body retrievals.
Main Methods:
- An online survey was developed and distributed via social media.
- Expert panel consultation and literature review informed survey design.
- Institutional data on bronchoscopy and foreign body retrievals were analyzed.
Main Results:
- 1000 survey responses were collected; 79.4% were caregivers, 21.5% medical professionals.
- 37.7% would offer high-risk foods to children under 2 years, 56.9% under 3 years.
- 80% would offer whole nuts to children under 4 years, with nuts being the most common foreign body retrieved.
Conclusions:
- A significant portion of the public is comfortable offering high-risk foods to young children, indicating a knowledge gap.
- Understanding of nut-related dangers and appropriate introduction age is poor.
- Effective public education strategies for safe food introduction in children are needed.
Objectives:
National guidelines advise delaying initiation of solid foods until after 4-6 months of age and avoiding "high-risk" foods under the age of 4 years. However, foreign body aspiration of food remains a common preventable pediatric emergency. Our primary aim was to investigate public knowledge regarding the safe age of introduction of different foods to children and determine if demographic factors affect this knowledge.
Methods:
An online survey was designed following a literature review and consultation with an expert panel. This was distributed via social media platforms. A review of our institutional data of bronchoscopy/foreign body retrievals was performed to identify trends.
Results:
There were 1000 survey responses: 79.4% of respondents cared for children and 21.5% were medical professionals; 37.7% of respondents (n = 385) would offer high-risk foods to children <2 years of age and 56.9% (n = 582) to children <3 years. At our institution nuts (65.7%) were the most common food-related foreign body retrieved from a total of 265 over 21 years. Notably, 80% of respondents (n = 800) would offer whole nuts to children <4 years. Respondents with medical training were more likely to hold off on introducing nuts to children until a later age.
Conclusion:
Although the public has an overall appreciation of food safety, a significant proportion would feel comfortable offering high-risk foods to children under 2 and 3 years. There is a poor understanding of the danger of nuts and the appropriate age of introduction. Further research into effective public education strategies on safe food introduction in children are warranted.
Level Of Evidence:
5 Laryngoscope, 135:445-451, 2025.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Prevention of Further Absorption of Poison
02:26Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores
01:17Transmission-based Precautions I: Contact, Enteric, and Droplets
Contact Precautions:
Contact precautions are the measures taken to prevent the transmission of infectious agents, especially epidemiologically important microorganisms such as MRSA or influenza, primarily transmitted through direct or indirect contact with an...
01:26Standard Precaution
Hand hygiene is the most crucial means to prevent the transmission of disease. Employers are legally required to provide their workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize exposure or contact with...
01:07Teratogenicity
01:22Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...