Timing of complementary food introduction – consequences on infants’ and childrens’ health

The introduction of complementary foods during infancy is important, as milk feeding (breast milk or infant formula) alone is no longer sufficient for both developmental and nutritional reasons, with increasing age of the infant. According to the current recommendations, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is a desirable goal. Otherwise, complementary foods must be introduced after the forth and before the sixth month of age. Both breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods can cause direct or later consequences on health. Without a doubt, the protective effect of breastfeeding on health has been shown in many studies. In recent years, the consequences of both early and late introduction of complementary foods on infants’ and children’s health have being studied. Among the possible short-term health effects, rapid weight gain, obesity, diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, allergies and infections have been reported. According to the results of the available studies, it is impossible to determine if the relationships found are strong, so as the exact age, at which the introduction of complementary foods seems to present risks for infants’ and children’s health. However, the available studies are, mainly, observational and their results must be interpreted with caution. Therefore, further studies are needed, while the design of prospective longitudinal studies is important, in order to clarify all the conclusions that remain ambiguous, till now.