Finger foods and baby led weaning leads to children with healthy BMI

Babies who weaned with finger foods rather than purees are more likely to eat healthily and avoid obesity in later life.

Now more fashionably known as baby led weaning, a small study published in BMJ Open, finds significant differences in food preferences according to which way a baby was weened.

Parents of 155 children between the ages of 20 months and 6.6 years filled in a detailed questionnaire about their child’s weaning style and food preferences.

A 92 children weaned with finger foods and 63 spoon-fed purees.

Children who finger fed liked carbohydrates more than spoon fed children who preferred sweet foods the best.

More children in the spoon fed group were overweight or obese compared to the baby led group.

The researchers could not explain this difference by other factors including birth weight, parental weight or other factors known to influence children’s BMI.

The study’s authors conclude: “Our study suggests that baby-led weaning has a positive impact on the liking for foods that form the building blocks of healthy nutrition, such as carbohydrates.”