Babies who are allowed to eat freely with their hands after weaning, eat healthier and later become leaner than babies fed with slices using cutlery, reports the BMJ.
These are the conclusions of the analysis of data on the nutrition of 155 children aged 20 months to 6,5 years. Researchers from the University of Nottingham obtained this information from questionnaires filled in by parents. Among the tested toddlers, 92 children (at the time of switching from breastfeeding to solid food) were allowed to eat freely with their hands, the rest were spoon-fed, mainly mush.
The authors of the study noted that children who could eat freely preferred carbohydrate foods among various types of food. The British suggest that such food (e.g. pieces of bread) is attractive to toddlers due to its consistency, which cannot be provided by any pulp. It is also easier to chew than meat.
Researchers emphasize that the method of serving food itself is one of the most important factors shaping future food preferences from an early age.
Their analyzes also show that children eating with their hands used carbohydrate foods much more willingly than their spoon-fed peers, who among various types of food (carbohydrate, protein, fruit and vegetables, as well as ready-made meals such as lasagne) – above all they offered sweets.
Children in the cutlery group were overweight or obese more often than hand-eaters, the researchers added. The weight of toddlers eating with their hands was much more likely to be appropriate for their age, height and gender. These differences in weight cannot be explained by the different birth weights of children, the weight of their parents, or by socioeconomic factors believed to influence the body mass index of children, the authors of the study state.
Weaning babies on their terms has a positive effect on the taste for carbohydrates, which are one of the building blocks of a healthy diet. Switching to new foods in a setting where children are left free promotes healthy food choices in early childhood and may protect against obesity, ’emphasizes one of the study’s authors, Dr. Nicola Pitchford.