When it comes to feeding young children, parents are all over the map. It’s hard to know what—and when—to feed your little ones as they begin the transition to solid food.
According to a survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation, parents of kids under 24 months say they are confident that they are feeding them an age-appropriate and nutritious diet. The survey was of 1,001 parents with children who were newborns up to 24 months old.
The parents reported that they are concerned about what foods to introduce and when to introduce them.
Additionally, feeding goals differed among parents. (No surprise there.) According to the results:
- 51 percent of parents say giving their child an appropriate amount of vegetables is a top goal
- 41 percent said that making sure their child got the right amount of protein was also a priority
- 38 percent said exposing them to new foods was a top goal
- 34 percent said giving their children the appropriate amount of fruits was a priority
There are gaps between when parents expected to introduce certain foods, and when they actually did so. For example, 20 percent of parents surveyed expected to introduce baby foods at 12 months while only 10 percent followed through on that (most did it long before the 12-month mark).
The parents differed on which foods were most nutritious too—25 percent thought pureed green beans were most nutritious and 34 percent said cheese was the least nutritious.
While there’s no big surprise in the data—parents differ in their approaches and each child is different—it’s interesting to view the attitudes of parents introducing food to kids.
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