Practice to introduce complementary foods to infants in Taiwan - changes from 1997 to 2008

The purpose of the study was to understand present infant complementary foods eating and compare trends over the past 10 years in Taiwan. We investigated the methods used to introduce infants to complementary foods, difficulties encountered, sources of information and the principle caregiver's knowledge about infant feeding. This study focused on findings from the 2005-2008 Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) and compared with those from the 1997-1999 Child NAHSIT. Interviews in both surveys were carried out by trained interviewers. In 2005-2008 survey, 50% of infants aged 7-12 months had started eating baby cereals or juice at age 4- 6 months as recommended. The proportions of infants aged 10-12 months who were introduced to particular complementary foods at recommended periods varied from biscuits (51.1%) to tofu (1.1%). The proportions were higher in 2005-2008 than in 1997-1999 for only 3 items. In both survey, more than 80% of mothers were the one who made the decision to introduce their children to complementary foods. More than 75% of caregivers fed baby cereals to their babies from milk bottles. In 2005-2008, the most commonly encountered problem was that the child wouldn't eat. Nutrition knowledge of the caregivers have improved since 1999, but still needs fostering. The timing to introduce complementary foods become later than ten years ago. Whether the delay will affect the normal dietary intakes of children after one year of age needs attention. The government should not only promote breastfeeding, but also reevaluate current evidence-based recommendation on complementary food introduction time.