The Daily Mail recently reported the case of a toddler who will eat nothing but yoghurt and consumes an astonishing 14 pots a day. While this may be an extreme example of a child who has failed to make the transition to chewable foods, it reflects what many health professionals believe to be a growing trend - a resistance on the part of babies and young children to pick up their food and chew on it.
Lifestyle factors seem to have a lot to do with why the move to finger food is often problematic. It is easy to understand how hard-pressed, working parents may prioritise on getting food down their children as swiftly as possible, depriving them of the opportunity to experiment with it themselves.
And with a baby food industry in the UK now worth over £450m annually - compared with £19m in 1989 - parents do not have to feel guilty about giving their babies an unhealthy option. These days, supermarket shelves are stacked with jars of organic, fresh ingredients and a wide range of recipes to tempt the most discerning baby palate.
However, from a developmental perspective, it is important that children are encouraged to move on to textured, chewable foods as soon as they are ready.
Reaching out
In 2003 the Government changed its advice in line with the World Health Organisation, recommending that babies move on to solids at six months, rather than four months. At this age their hand-to-eye co-ordination has developed, their necks are relatively strong and they can sit up if supported. They will also be ready to reach out and start to grasp food themselves. Encouraging children to feed themselves goes hand in hand with this progression, enhancing hand-to-eye co-ordination and jaw, teeth and bowel development.
Researchers are investigating the extent to which the self-feeding process impacts on speech and language development. Early years consultant and childcare expert Maria Robinson says, 'Research suggests that chewing helps the development of cheek and jaw muscles, which should support being able to articulate in speech - in the way that blowing bubbles seems to help language development, and babies do often like to blow bubbles with their food. Although there is some controversy about whether there is a close link between chewing and speech, it would seem logical that the two have some interconnecting principles.'
Time to experiment
Former health visitor and author/researcher Gill Rapley questions the assumption that babies have to start with pureed food at six months and feels there needs to be more research into the problems associated with children becoming 'picky' and resistant to lumpy foods at an early age. She believes that children fare better when they have an element of control in what they eat and how they eat it.
'Most children are capable of introducing themselves to solid foods after six months and will manage the transition themselves,' she says. 'They gradually learn to pick up smaller things and their overall development keeps up with their nutritional needs.
'There is a danger that if all food comes in the same sloppy, homogenous texture, they will go on taste alone and be resistant to tastes which are unfamiliar. Inevitably, parents will go with what their children like.'
According to Sarah Schenker, a registered dietician who works with the Pre-School Learning Alliance, children will be ready to move on to new foods quite quickly, if they are weaned at six months rather than four or five.
'A lot of parents may struggle with waiting that long, but after the age of six months, children are ready to try different food experiences. It also means that the risk of allergies is reduced and the baby's system is ready to cope with a variety of foods.
'Experience shows that children who are less in a routine are perhaps more willing to chew and experiment. What is really important is that parents provide a happy and relaxed environment for children to start feeding themselves, where they are not under pressure to feed quickly. Babies have a remarkable ability to compensate when it comes to what they do or don't eat, and parents generally only need worry if a child is not gaining weight as they should be.'
Registered nutritionist Julia Wolman believes that a child's inability to move on to chewable foods may sometimes lead to a limited diet later in life. 'The first year of life is known to be the best window of opportunity a parent has for successfully introducing a wide range of different foods, particularly fruit and vegetables,' she says.
'Children can become quite lazy if they are not given the opportunity to experiment early with enough different foods. I think it is not only that parents lack time to experiment but that they lack the information and guidance about doing so. The wide availability of baby foods doesn't motivate parents to experiment and the result is that many harder, textured finger foods are not familiar to babies and toddlers, and they refuse them. Parents inevitably go back to offering their children other foods so that they will eat something, and this perpetuates the cycle.'
Having fun with food
At Eden Garden Nursery in Ouston, County Durham, nutrition co-ordinator Linda Barkas says that finger foods are introduced in the nursery within a couple of weeks of weaning.
'With the parents' permission, we start with foods such as gluten-free, organic rusks, which dissolve on the tongue and do not present a choking hazard. At this stage babies are touching the roof of their mouth with their tongue to explore foods and are just starting to use their gums or teeth to chew.'
Ms Barkas believes that the nursery's policy of providing all children with food diaries which they take home with them helps parents to be more willing to give a wider variety of finger foods. But there is still concern about how a child will cope.
'The response to finger foods can vary greatly between children,' she says. 'Some will swallow and chew easily, while others may gag and try to cram too much into their mouths. Parents tend to panic when they think their baby is choking and will put their fingers into their child's mouth to retrieve the foods. This then alarms the child, and puts them off the whole exercise.'
At Eden Garden Nursery, babies are encouraged to help themselves to food from the weaning stage, by sitting on a low chair with a tray. 'They also have their own spoon and are encouraged to dip into a bowl or use their fingers to explore foods,' says Ms Barkas. 'This does make meal times messy, but it is lots of fun. Encouraging or praising a child for helping themselves, or using role play and baby signing and rhymes, can enhance the experience and ease any frustration the child may be experiencing.'
As Maria Robinson suggests, it is reasonable to suppose that as with adults, babies will have likes and dislikes, and this should be accepted.
'It is also important to recognise when babies are truly ready to try different textures. Meals should always be an enjoyable, unhurried experience,' she says.
While research is still scrutinising the links between between aspects of child development and being able to feed and chew, there is no doubt that babies who are allowed to feed themselves can easily join in with family meals from an early age.
It seems they are also less likely to refuse foods or become fussy eaters as they grow older.
