Age-Related Trends in the Diet of An Infant’s Cohort in the Northeast of Italy from Six to Twelve Months of Age
Claudia Carletti,
Federica Concina,
Paola Pani,
Lorenzo Monasta,
Alessandra Knowles,
Maria Parpinel,
Fabio Barbone,
Luca Ronfani
Affiliations
Claudia Carletti
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Federica Concina
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Paola Pani
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Lorenzo Monasta
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Alessandra Knowles
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Maria Parpinel
Department of Medicine, University of Udine, via Colugna 50, 33100 Udine, Italy
Fabio Barbone
Scientific Direction, Institute for Maternal and Child Health—IRCCS ‘Burlo Garofolo’, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Luca Ronfani
Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, via dell’Istria 65/1, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Complementary feeding is recognized as an important predictor of health later in life and is likely to affect the development of food preferences. This paper describes age-related trends in terms of energy, nutrients intake and dietary habits of an Italian infant sub cohort (n = 152), enrolled in Trieste. Infant dietary data, collected using a food diary at 6, 9 and 12 months of age, were used to estimate energy and nutrients intake using the Italian food composition database. Age-related trends were calculated using Page’s trend test. An increasing age-trend was observed in the percentages of contribution of macronutrients to total energy intake, with the exception of total lipids, which instead decreased over time. Most of the infants shared a low varied diet especially with regards to protein intake sources, represented mainly by dairy and meat products rather than pulses and fish. This could also account for the low intake of essential fatty acids (ω3) that play an important role in infant neurodevelopment. Moreover, non-commercial baby foods contributed more in terms of quantity, energy and macronutrients intake, compared with commercial products. Healthy eating habits should be encouraged during the first year of life, promoting a varied and well balanced diet at family level.