Case summary There is no agreement between researchers and the Norwegian Directorate of Health about when children should be able to taste solid food. A large study from Norway and Sweden shows that if children get to taste different foods from the age of three to four months, it reduces the risk of food allergies. The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends feeding infants with breast milk until they are six months old. Health nurses are unsure of what information they should deal with. The Norwegian Nurses’ Association is asking for clarification from the Directorate of Health as to why they have not changed the guideline in line with new allergy research. The Directorate of Health says that they understand that it is demanding when certain professionals give advice to others, but that it is their advice that applies. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Peanut, egg, halibut and cow’s milk. More and more children are allergic to one or more of these foods. Now researchers believe that food allergies can be avoided. A large Norwegian-Swedish study has shown that if the child gets to taste different foods from the time they are three to four months old, it reduces the risk of developing a food allergy by 60 per cent. This is contrary to advice from the Directorate of Health. I think the findings are solid. Eight-month-old Linnea is among the children who have been able to taste food at an early age. – Based on the advice we received, what we have read and heard from others, we realized that she should be able to taste other food as early as possible, says Jon-Henning Aasum. Aasum is on paternity leave and takes his daughter to the health center in Sandefjord. He is satisfied with the advice from the health nurses, he says. Photo: Philip Hofgaard / news The Directorate of Health advises to only feed infants with breast milk until they are six months old. – It is not safe to recommend this when the research findings are so solid and well documented, says Professor Karin Lødrup Carlsen. It’s not about a lot of food, she explains. A little peanut butter, milk or a thin scrambled egg on the mother’s or father’s finger for the baby to suck on is enough to prevent allergies. Karin Lødrup CarlsenProfessor, University of OsloPaediatrician and consultant, Oslo University Hospital Now Lødrup Carlsen believes that the advice from the Norwegian Directorate of Health is out of date and asks them to change the national guidelines in line with the allergy research. Uncertain health nurses The advice from the Directorate of Health is based on summarized research which shows that breastfeeding and full breastfeeding prevent infections, obesity and probably some types of cancer. Early exposure to solid food can cause the baby to receive less breast milk or to stop breastfeeding earlier than recommended, according to the Directorate of Health. At the same time, health nurses must give advice to new parents about, among other things, food and breastfeeding. They are required by law to follow the advice of the health authorities. Head of the national group for health nurses in the Norwegian Nurses Association, Ann Karin Swang, says that many people find it difficult to give advice when new research and advice from experts conflict with the national guidelines. – I get many e-mails from health nurses all over the country who wonder what information they should deal with. Ann Karin Swang, leader of the health nurses in the Norwegian Nurses’ Association. Photo: Kristin Henriksen / NSF Now Swang is asking for a direct clarification from the Norwegian Directorate of Health as to why they have not changed the guideline in line with new research. – Many people have questions and now we need a clarification, so that we know for sure what messages we should go out with at our health centres. – Not one truth According to health nurse Ingrid Maria Ødegården at the health center in Sandefjord, there are divided opinions about the food and breastfeeding advice among the health nurses. – Some could wish that the advice was more unambiguous and addressed prevention against food allergies, she explains. Ingrid Maria Ødegården Health nurse, Nybyen health center in Sandefjord Even Ødegården trusts the assessments made by the health authorities. At the same time, she has experienced that more parents than before choose to move away from full breastfeeding for six months. – We try to reassure parents in the choices they make for their children. There is no one truth that is right for everyone, she says. When do you give your child solid food for the first time? 👶 From three to four months 🥜 From four to six months 🤱 Later than six months 🍼 Don’t know/don’t have children 🤷♀️ Show result – More advantages than disadvantages – We understand that it is demanding when some professionals give advice other than what is given in the national professional guidelines, says special adviser in the Directorate of Health, Gry Hay. She will nevertheless point out that it is the advice from the Directorate of Health that applies and that these are in line with new Nordic nutritional recommendations and new advice from the World Health Organisation, which came last year. In the coming year, the Directorate of Health will carry out a new review of the national guideline, and update the advice according to the same process for the general population, according to Hay. – Mother’s milk is the best food for infants in the first six months. Gry Hay Special adviser for child and youth health, Directorate of Health – Why are the research findings on food allergies not included in the advice? – There is broad agreement that allergy-causing foods should not be avoided for infants. Nevertheless, full breastfeeding until six months offers the greatest health benefit and the benefits are much greater than any disadvantages. Collective knowledge indicates that breastfed children should only taste solid food at around six months, if the child is growing as it should, says Hay and refers to Nordic nutritional recommendations and new advice from the World Health Organisation. She adds that the council is a global call. This means that it applies both to high-income countries such as Norway and low-income countries. Hi! Do you or someone you know have a strong story? Or do you have any tips for something else I should check out? Feel free to send me input by e-mail! Published 31.08.2024, at 07.51 Updated 31.08.2024, at 09.01
ttn-69
When should infants be allowed to taste solid food? – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
