Complementary foods and baby health

Abstract

Breast milk is the optimal feeding, which meets all the newborn’s body needs. For nutritional support and development of the baby, at certain periods of life it is required to introduce complementary foods into the diet, which is an important intermediate link between the milk nutrition and the general diet. In addition, complementary foods contribute to the development of taste habits, introduce a baby to a variety of foods and tastes, to a more complex food texture, and contribute to the development of such important physiological skills as chewing and swallowing. Nutrition in infancy may influence eating behaviour and eating habits at a later age. The babies become familiar with scents in the mother’s womb via amniotic fluid and then during breastfeeding when scents and flavours from the mother’s diet are tasted.The article provides evidence in support of the recommended age when complementary foods should be introduced, the main factors affecting the eating behaviour of babies: exposure to sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or specific tastes. The impact of sweet foods on the health of babies in the future is of great importance, for example, it may increase a risk of developing overweight/obesity as compared to those who had the lowest intake of sweet foods. Attention is paid to the most important risk factor for developing early sensitization, namely the nature of feeding babies in the early period, and the immunogenicity evaluation of the first complementary foods. The article provides a rich selection of commercial first complementary foods that contribute to the correct development of eating habits in babies from an early age.