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Maternal and pediatric nutrition

Protein intakes and their nutritional sources during the first 2 years of life: secondary data evaluation from the European Childhood Obesity Project

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 70, pages 1291–1297 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

High protein intake in infancy affects future obesity risk and other health outcomes. We aim to describe total protein intake and its sources in a birth cohort in five European countries over the first 2 years of life.

Subjects/Methods:

A total of 746 formula-fed infants were included. Three-day weighed dietary records at 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months of age were used. Kruskal–Wallis, ANOVA and Friedman’s tests were used to assess possible differences in nutritional intake among countries and over time.

Results:

Dairy products were the main components of the infants’ diets. Cow’s milk was rarely introduced before 12 months of age, whereas infants’ formula was the main contributor of protein intake. Food choices and protein intake differed among countries (P<0.001). Protein intake often exceeded European recommendations from 9 months onwards, partly because of the substitution of dairy protein (mainly infant formula) by meat protein. Two nutritional patterns were identified that were characterised by differences in energy, fat, protein and animal protein intake. Finally, food consumption was not always in line with protein intakes, and thus infants from some countries showed high consumption of specific food groups but relatively low protein intakes.

Conclusions:

During weaning, over-limited substitution of dairy products with other sources (especially meat) resulted in relatively high protein intakes in formula-fed infants. Differences in preferences of specific protein sources from complementary foods existed among European countries. Great opportunities in improving early nutrition were revealed, although cultural and geographical differences should always be considered.

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Acknowledgements

The studies reported herein have been carried out with partial financial support from the Commission of the European Community, specific RTD Programme ‘Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources’, within the 5th Framework Programme, research grants no. QLRT–2001–00389 and QLK1-CT-2002-30582, and the 6th Framework Programme, contract no. 007036 and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), project EarlyNutrition under grant agreement n°289346. This manuscript does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission and in no way anticipates the future policy in this area. The formula for the study was produced by Bledina (Villefranche-sur-Saône Cédex, France, part of Danone Baby Nutrition), who operated as a partner of this EU project and received a grant from the EU Commission for this task. No funding bodies had any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. This study was also supported by the Child Health Foundation (Munich, Germany).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University of Munich Medical Center, München, Germany

    L Damianidi, M A Theurich, B Koletzko & V Grote

  2. Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland

    D Gruszfeld

  3. Department of Pediatrics, San Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy,

    E Verduci & F Vecchi

  4. Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy,

    E Verduci & F Vecchi

  5. CHC St Vincent, Liège-Rocourt, Belgium

    A Xhonneux & J-P Langhendries

  6. Paediatrics Research Unit, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain

    V Luque & M Zaragoza-Jordana

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  1. L Damianidi
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  2. D Gruszfeld
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  3. E Verduci
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  4. F Vecchi
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  10. B Koletzko
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Correspondence to B Koletzko.

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Damianidi, L., Gruszfeld, D., Verduci, E. et al. Protein intakes and their nutritional sources during the first 2 years of life: secondary data evaluation from the European Childhood Obesity Project. Eur J Clin Nutr 70, 1291–1297 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.108

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