An Overview On Weaning Foods

Weaning, more scientifically known as complementary feeding, implies to process where solid foods and other liquids, in addition to milk, are introduced to infants in order to meet their growing nutritional requirements.

- Ankita Kataria

The incorporation of complementary feeding is the first major proactive step in the infant’s life towards “growing up”. It requires a series of neurodevelopmental achievements and it becomes a way of socialization. While the original World Health Organization (WHO) definition of complementary feeding included infant formula as a complementary food or weaning food, the term now refers to all solid foods and liquids other than breastmilk or infant formula and follow-on formula.

The European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) reviewed the literature on complementary feeding for healthy term infants and recommended that:

Exclusive breastfeeding for around six months is a desirable goal;

Complementary feeding should not be introduced before 17 weeks (four months) and not later than 26 weeks (six months);

Breastfeeding should continue throughout weaning, particularly during the early stages;

Introducing gluten between four and seven months while breastfeeding may reduce the risk of coeliac disease, type 1 diabetes, and wheat allergy.

While it is recommended to avoid high-allergen foods like egg and fish until six months of age, the ESPGHAN review claims that there is no evidence that this delay will reduce the likelihood of allergies. However, WHO recommended that each infant must be managed individually since they grow at different rates.

The weaning food offered to infants must have the following characteristics:

The food should be rich in calories and adequate in good-quality protein, vitamins, and minerals;

The food, when stirred with cold or warm water or milk, should form a slurry or semisolid mass of soft consistency, enabling the child to swallow it easily;

The prepared food should have low dietary bulk;