Why children don’t need weaning formulas —Experts

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Nutrition in a baby’s earliest years is crucially important for its overall health. So, good parents are sometimes overwhelmed and confused about what to feed their babies to ensure they grow up strong and healthy.

Parents of many growing babies who are teetering on the toddler stage offer them toddler formula alongside breast milk to help their child transition from breastfeeding or infant formula to whole solid foods.

Older infant-young child formulas (OIYCFs), as they are mainly referred to, include “transition formulas, follow-on formulas, or weaning formulas,” for children ages six to 24 months, and “toddler milks or formulas, growing-up milks, or young child milks,” for kids ages 12 to 36 months.

Toddler formula, sometimes marketed as a “transitional” or “weaning” formula for infants, is not made to replace infant formula, breast milk, or solid foods as children get older and transition to a regular solid diet. Instead, they are meant to complement a toddler’s healthy, varied diet full of whole foods.

However, the different names, compositions, and purported benefits of this group of formulas have resulted in questions and confusion among parents, child carers, and other paediatric healthcare professionals.

No doubt, mothers may easily opt for toddler formula and weaning formulas in the diets of their little ones, but experts have expressed concerns surrounding their usage.

While many parents mistakenly believe that OIYCFs offer something more, what is recommended is exclusive breast feeding for the first six months and subsequently complementary feeding with a variety of available classes of food around, said Dr. Michael Alao, a consultant neonatologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Dr. Alao added, “Most of these older infant-young child formulas brandish with special factors may actually not contain what they claim. Before giving any formula, mothers should know their constituents and also talk to an expert; otherwise, they might just be wasting resources.”

Moreover, Mr Ahmad Abdulsalami, the chief dietician at the UCH, Ibadan, said mothers shouldn’t patronise any older infant-young child formulas that are not registered and endorsed for use by professional bodies like the Nutrition Society of Nigeria and the Dietetics Association of Nigeria.

Mr Abdulsalami said although a child might benefit from older infant-young child formulas when they are given to address certain development or growth concerns or to supplement in the case of certain kidney conditions, it is not required in a healthy child on breast milk and complementary feeds from a variety of available food items.

«A child cannot be breastfed for one reason or another; if the child is not meeting the nutritional needs of the weaning diet, alternatives like the older infant-young child formulas are prescribed for a short period of time.

“Even though we don’t encourage it, when it is given to children weaned from breastfeeding, it can ensure a regular supply of calcium and other minerals for body growth and development. Milk is healthy, and so it can be a part of a child›s diet.”

He also added that a toddler transition formula is not necessary for every child because many children will transition just fine from infant formula and/or breast milk to a regular diet, as all children have unique needs.

Dr. George Fuchs, professor of paediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Kentucky and lead author of the new AAP report, said in a reaction “Many parents mistakenly believe that OIYCFs offer something more, something unique that cow milk, together with a varied diet with fortified foods, can›t provide. This misconception can be largely attributed to the advertising and branding of these products.»

The American Academy of Paediatrics (APP), in a report, tried to clarify «the uncertainty and misperception» around increasingly popular OIYCFs, which currently do not have uniform national or international criteria dictating the composition or definition of formulas for children older than 12 months.

APP declared that older infant-young child formulas (OIYCFs) are nutritionally incomplete and should not be used as a substitute for prescribed medical formulas.

It highlighted that the composition of OIYCFs «is characterised by wide variation,» with the potential for contents that are «considered to be unnecessary or potentially detrimental, including high or low protein, higher sodium content relative to cow milk, and added sweeteners, among others.»

According to the report, OIYCFs are «not nutritionally complete,» so they are not appropriate substitutes for medical nutritional therapy for older infants and young kids with malnutrition, swallowing dysfunction, feeding aversions, or conditions like cerebral palsy. And they are not adequate for those with disease-specific requirements, such as those related to celiac disease.

However, the authors of the APP report acknowledged that OIYCFs with the appropriate composition «are designed for healthy, normally growing children, specifically to replace or supplement the usual role of whole cow milk or human milk in the diet.»

For instance, compared with kids who consumed unfortified cow milk, some who consumed OIYCFs demonstrated improved vitamin D and E intakes.

Additionally, for children who consume a diet of solid foods that provides sufficient iron and vitamin content, there is no need to consume OIYCFs, according to the report.

However, the CDC advises being careful not to give toddlers too much milk because milk is not well digested by the developing gut of a baby in large quantities.

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