Infant Feeding in New Zealand: Adherence to Food and Nutrition Guidelines among the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort

Abstract

At present, there are no national data collected on dietary practices and nutrient intakes among New Zealand (NZ) infants. This report represents the first study in New Zealand to provide evidence of population adherence to the national food and nutrition recommendations in the first year of life. The data presented comes from an ethnically diverse and contemporary sample of New Zealand children, whose mothers were recruited and interviewed during pregnancy and then re-interviewed at several time points through early childhood: the Growing up in New Zealand cohort study (GUiNZ). It was evaluated the degree to which families within the GUiNZ study adhered to the New Zealand Ministry of Health Food and Nutrition guidelines for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (hereafter referred as the Infant Feeding Guidelines) (Ministry of Health 2008). The findings show that, overall, the population median adherence to the guidelines was 70.0 points (from a top score of 100, which means full compliance to the guidelines). Low rates of adherence to individual infant feeding indicators point to the continued importance of promoting duration of breastfeeding to a year or beyond and the introduction of solids at around six months of age, as these guidelines did not have widespread adherence among the GUiNZ cohort. Serving vegetables and fruit to infants twice or more each per day also requires reinforcement. Additionally, the early introduction of inappropriate foods and drinks to many infants is of concern, as this adds excess energy and may influence taste preferences for foods and drinks high in sugar, salt and/or fat. This report was written for the Ministry of Social Development, funded by the Children and Families Research Fund. The project was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Health as the findings provide timely information for the Ministry of Health’s review of Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women; and for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (0-2yrs). The review of the Infant Feeding Guidelines is being initiated and will be informed by relevant international systematic literature reviews. This report is a valuable additional piece of evidence for the review as it provides information on contemporary NZ infant feeding practices.