Longer breastfeeding duration is associated with a greater variety of vegetables consumed by young children

Longer breastfeeding direction is significantly associated with greater variety of vegetables consumed by young children according to a new study published by University of California researchers. Researchers used dietary intake and breastfeeding data from participants in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)–the WIC Infant, Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2, also known as the ‘Feeding My Baby Study'. They also found that eating a larger variety of vegetables during the early stages of solid food introduction was associated with increased intake of vegetables later in childhood. These findings are important as they indicate several behavioral targets to increase intake of a greater variety of vegetables by young children. The study was conducted by Hannah Thompson at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the UC Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) in collaboration with Christine Borger at Westat, Courtney Paolicelli at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Shannon Whaley at Public Health Foundation Enterprises-WIC, and Lorrene Ritchie at the UC NPI. The study was funded by the Office of Policy Support in the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA contract AG-3198-K-15-0050.