DELAYING THE INTRODUCTION OF COMPLEMENTARY FOOD UNTIL 6 MONTHS DOES NOT AFFECT APPETITE OR MOTHERS REPORT OF FOOD ACCEPTANCE OF BREAST-FED INFANTS FROM 6 TO 12 MONTHS IN A LOW-INCOME, HONDURAN POPULATION

Low income, primiparous mothers who had exclusively breast-fed for 4 m o were randomly assigned to one of three groups: I) continued exclusiv e breast-feeding to 6 mo (EBF), 2) introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo, with ad libitum nursing 4-6 mo (SF), and 3) introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo, with maintenance of base-line nursing fre quency 4-6 mo (SF-M). After the intervention phase (4-6 mo; n = 141), home visits were conducted for a subsample at 9 (n = 60) and 12 (n = 1 23) mo. At each visit, an observer recorded infant food intake at the midday meal and interviewed the mother regarding usual feeding pattern s and the infant's acceptance of 20 common food items. All but two inf ants (1.5%) were breast-fed to 9 mo and all but eight (6%) to 12 mo. T here were no significant differences among groups in breast-feeding fr equency, amount or number of foods consumed at the midday meal, percen tage of food offered that was consumed, usual daily number of meals an d snacks,number of food groups consumed, or overall food acceptance sc ore. Frequency of consumption of foods from eight different food group s (dairy, meats, eggs, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, tubers) was not significantly different among groups except that, at 9 mo only, th e SF group (but not the SF-M group) consumed more vegetables than did the EBF group. These results indicate that delaying the introduction o f complementary foods until 6 mo does not adversely affect appetite or food acceptance among breast-fed infants.