19. October 2009 04:14
The Feeding Infant and Toddler Study 2008 was presented at the ADA Conference & Expo in Denver, Colo. tonight. The following provide more information about the study release:
Background and purpose
- The Nestlé Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) is a dietary intake survey with a large, representative, cross-sectional sample of parents and caregivers that provides information on the eating patterns and nutrient intakes of infants, toddlers and preschoolers living in the United States.
- The major objective of FITS is to learn about the nutrient intakes and gaps of the youngest U.S. population group and to understand what foods are being consumed at different developmental stages when the diets of young children is rapidly changing.
- Nestlé FITS 2008 data were collected for a sample of 3,378 children age zero-to-four years and provides important information on what foods are eaten at various different stages of development as children transition from an all milk diet onto the foods of the family.
- Nestlé FITS 2008 is the second study of its kind. In 2002 Gerber Products Company, now a part of the Nestlé family, commissioned the groundbreaking FITS 2002 dietary survey of 3,000 infants and toddlers ages four--to-24 months, in response to the childhood obesity epidemic.
Design and population
- The Nestlé 2008 FITS study focused specifically on a few core areas: nutrient intake and food consumption patterns of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from age zero-to-four years using a standardized 24-hour dietary recall method.
- Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, conducted the study on behalf of Nestlé. Mathematica also conducted the FITS 2002 study. The Nutrition Coordinating Center (NCC) at the University of Minnesota worked with Mathematica to collect the dietary recalls.
- Telephone interviews were conducted to recruit participants, to collect food and nutrient intake data, and to collect additional information on household demographics, growth and development and feeding/consumption patterns.
- FITS 2008 updates information on the diets of children age four-to-24 months from FITS 2002 and provides new information on the diets of children age 24-48 months.
- FITS 2002 included a survey of 3,022 infants and toddlers age four-to-24 months
- FITS 2008 includes 3,378 infants and young children from birth-to-four years of age
A foundation to build on
- Nestlé FITS 2008 reveals both progress and areas of concern in the diets of young children in the United States. The data show some positive trends versus 2002— infants are being breastfed longer; and fewer infants and toddlers are consuming sweets and sweetened beverages on a given day. However, other findings are less positive — on a given day, many toddlers and preschoolers aren’t eating a single serving of vegetables or fruit and they are consuming diets less than the recommended 30-to-40 percent of calories from fat. Most preschoolers are eating too much saturated fat and sodium.
- FITS 2008 data suggest that parents are hearing and following the feeding guidance for infants, yet there is continued work that needs to be done to reinforce good feeding habits as children become toddlers and preschoolers and begin eating from the family table.
- More guidance and support is needed to help parents better transition from feeding a baby to meeting the unique nutrition and feeding needs of a toddler or preschooler. The diets of toddlers and preschoolers are mirroring the unhealthy eating patterns often seen in older children and adults.
- FITS 2002 was the foundation of the Start Healthy, Stay Healthy™ nutrition system, Nestlé’s patent-pending stage-based nutrition system that combines products, education and services to foster healthy growth and development and the early establishment of healthy eating habits from birth to preschool. Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Milestones Symbols™ direct parents to the information and products tailored to their child’s developmental stage. The insights from FITS, along with dietary recommendations from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Academy of Sciences/ Institute of Medicine (NAS/ IOM) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are the foundation of theStart Healthy, Stay Healthy nutrition system, feeding guidelines and resources1.
- FITS 2008 builds on this foundation with updated research to further understand nutrient intakes and early-childhood eating patterns and to determine whether parents and caregivers have modified the diets of their children. The data will provide new insights on the diets of preschoolers and will help to determine whether parents and caregivers have modified the diets of their children age four-to-24 months.
1. Not sponsored or endorsed by the USDA, NAS/IOM
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