nutrients

Article
The Early Introduction of Complementary (Solid)
Foods: A Prospective Cohort Study of Infants in
Chengdu, China
Chuan Yu 1 , Colin W. Binns 2, * and Andy H. Lee 2
1 Department of Health-Related Social and Behavioural Science, West China School of Public Health,
Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China; [email protected]
2 School of Public Health, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, 6845 Perth, Australia; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +61-8-9266-2958




Received: 1 March 2019; Accepted: 29 March 2019; Published: 1 April 2019


Abstract: The objective of this study was to document the types of foods introduced to infants before
six months of age and identify factors associated with their early introduction. A prospective cohort
study of infant feeding for the first six months after birth was undertaken in the city of Chengdu,
PR China. The participants were 845 mothers who delivered their infants in hospitals in Chengdu.
Mothers were interviewed within 15 days of giving birth and were followed up with for six months.
The outcome measures were the introduction of complementary foods to infants within four and
six months postpartum. Complementary foods are defined as any food, whether manufactured or
locally prepared, used as a complement to breast milk or infant formula. In this study the emphasis
was on solids and not liquid foods. More than 94% of the infants were given complementary foods
(semi-solid or solid foods) before the age of six months and 10% by four months. The most commonly
introduced food was infant cereal, which was given to three quarters of the infants by six months.
Multivariate analysis showed that maternal education level was a significant factor affecting the
introduction of complementary foods before four months, adjusted odds ratio 2.983 (1.232–7.219),
with the more educated mothers introducing complementary foods earlier. More antenatal and
postnatal health promotion efforts are required to highlight the benefits of introducing solid foods
later than is the current practice in Chengdu, at or close to six months of age. Further education is
also required for training health professionals including pediatricians, midwives, and community
health staff.

Keywords: complementary foods; child health; China; infants; cohort study

1. Introduction
Human infants require complementary foods at about six months of age to provide adequate
nutrition during the transition from breast milk to a family diet. This is unique among mammalian
species and the period of complementary feeding typically covers the period from six to 24 months,
even though mothers may well choose to continue breastfeeding beyond this period [1]. Breastfeeding
brings many benefits to the health and development of infants including long term benefits into adult
life [2–5]. Despite its many nutritional attributes, beyond six months of age breast milk requires the
addition of complementary foods to provide adequate nutrition for infants [1].
The introduction of complementary (solid) foods at around six months is important because early
or late introduction can cause health difficulties for the infant. The early introduction of solids increases
the risk of diarrheal disease, food allergies, and probably increases the rate of being overweight in
infancy and childhood [6,7]. It is estimated that worldwide there are 41 million children under

Nutrients 2019, 11, 760; doi:10.3390/nu11040760 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 2 of 10

five years old who are obese or overweight, and recent reviews have strengthened the reported
association between the early introduction of solids, particularly introduction before the age of four
months, and higher protein foods and obesity [8–11]. The gastrointestinal microbiome is influenced
by early infant feeding practices, including the early introduction of complementary foods. It is
important for healthy infant development. Exclusive breastfeeding is associated with development
of an optimal microbiome that has the better long-term health outcomes. Favorable gut colonization
through continued breastfeeding beyond six months of age may promote tolerance, as well as provide
protective factors when complementary feeding is initiated [12]. The late introduction of nutritious
complementary foods (after six months of age) predisposes infants to micronutrient deficiencies,
especially in lower income countries [13,14].
In Asian populations complementary foods are often introduced earlier than the recommended
ages with a median age of introduction being four months in the region [2,15–18]. There are no recently
published studies on the introduction of solid foods and the types of foods given by parents from
Western China.
The aim of this study was to document the types of foods introduced to infants before six months
of age in Chengdu, Western China, and to identify factors associated with their early introduction.

2. Materials and Methods

For this prospective cohort study, a sample of 845 mothers, who delivered their infants in one
hospital for women and children and five community health centers in the City of Chengdu (population
6.5 million) from April 2010 to January 2012, was selected. The eligibility criteria for inclusion were
mothers who had a singleton birth in Chengdu during the recruitment period and who confirmed
their babies would receive continuing child health care services from one of the above institutions for
at least six months after birth. Exclusion criteria were the presence of major congenital abnormalities,
births of less than 34 weeks gestation, and infants who had stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit
for four days or longer after birth. Further details have been previously published [19]. In summary,
we recruited mothers delivering their infants in the Sichuan Provincial Hospital for Women and
Children and the five community health centers in the City of Chengdu that were associated with
them. The great majority of mothers were primiparous and stayed in hospital for about 4 days.
The in-hospital delivery rate in Chengdu was 100%. It was planned to recruit the sample continuously
and unselectively until the required sample size was reached. However, on occasion there were too
many deliveries to interview adequately and at these times the selection of mothers to be interviewed
was made using random numbers. The hospital and health centers were visited three times a week
and all the mothers present in the hospital were visited. Mothers who met the selection criteria were
invited by the researchers to participate in the study and were interviewed after informed consent
was given.
This study was part of a larger project on infant feeding in Chengdu. Sample size calculations
were based on an estimated rate of ‘any breastfeeding’ at six months of 65% based on our previous
studies in China and then allowed for a 10% dropout rate. We ended up with 760 participants, which
was very close to the 10% dropout estimate. A sample size of 750 was estimated to give confidence
intervals of +3%. This sample size would also have sufficient power to investigate the study objective
on complementary foods. To account for an estimated dropout rate of 10% we estimated a sample of
825 would be required. A total of 890 mothers who met our inclusion criteria were contacted before
discharge, we recruited 845, and at six months had a total of 760 remained, a dropout rate of 10.1%.
All participants were interviewed face to face after the birth of their infant and were followed
up with through telephone interviews at one, three, and six months using structured questionnaires.
The baseline and follow-up questionnaires used in this study were based on the questionnaires
used in previous studies in Australia [20,21], Vietnam [22], the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,
and Zhejiang Province of China [23,24]. The baseline questionnaire included the mother and
her family’s socio-demographic information, baby’s information, breastfeeding information, and
Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 3 of 10

pregnancy and delivery information. The follow-up questionnaire included sections focusing on
breastfeeding practices and feeding behaviors. The health status of infant and mother, the introduction
of complementary food, and the use of health services were included in the follow-up questionnaire.
The introduction of solid foods was defined as “regular use”.
Complementary foods are defined as any food, whether manufactured or locally prepared, used
as a complement to breast milk or infant formula [25]. Nutritional or dietary supplements, such as
vitamin preparations, were not included in the definition. Solid foods should be nutritious, culturally
appropriate, and acceptable in taste without added sugar, honey, or salt, starting with pureed foods
and changing to normal texture by about 12 months [26].
This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committees of Curtin University
(Approval number HR168/2009) and the participating hospital in China. The mothers were informed
about the purpose of the study and their rights by an information letter at recruitment. Their
participation was entirely voluntary and they could withdraw from the study at any time without
prejudice. All mothers were reassured that their participation or nonparticipation in this study would
not influence their baby’s health care in any way.
All data were cleaned and screened for outliers, coding errors, and missing values. When
errors were detected, which were very few in number, they were corrected from the original
questionnaire, from medical records, or by telephone calls to the respondent. The data was
subsequently analyzed using SPSS version 18.0. Descriptive and univariate analyses were used
to describe the socio-demographic characteristics and other variables. Univariate and multivariate
logistic regression models were conducted to determine the influencing factors associated with the
introduction of solid foods before four months and six months of age. Potential variables considered
were based on the available information and plausible factors from the literature. The variables
included were maternal age, maternal education level, maternal occupation, family monthly income,
gender, birth weight, attendance at antenatal classes, delivery method, parity, infant admission to
special care nursery, the time mother went back to work, paternal smoking, feeding method at
baseline, feeding method at one-month postpartum, breastfeeding problems of mothers by one month
postpartum, and viewing advertisements related to infant feeding and family support.

3. Results
A total of 845 out of 890 mothers recruited at baseline met our eligibility criteria and agreed to
participate in the study, a response rate of 95%. There were no significant differences in demographic
characteristics between the participants and non-participants. During the six month follow up period
85 mothers left the study and 760 (89.9%) participants were included in the final analysis. Most of the
mothers who left the study did so because they had moved out of the study area. The mean age of
participants was 28.2 years. Chengdu is a centre of technology, and 67% of mothers had completed
university education with 76% having a family monthly income greater than 5000 RMB. More than 80%
of mothers were employed and approximately half returned to work within six months postpartum.
Caesarean deliveries accounted for 65% of the total, consistent with the national average of 64.1% in
Chinese cities and reflected the trend towards increasing operative delivery [27–29].
The demographic characteristics of the mothers at baseline (n = 845) and those who remained
in the study at six months (n = 760) are shown in Table 1. The gender ratio (M/F) at birth was 1.12,
similar to previous demographic reports [30]. Most of the mothers (88.9%) were primiparous reflecting
the population policy of the time.
Almost all infants (94%) had been given complementary foods before six months. Almost all
(90%) infants had been given water before four months. The complementary foods were classified
into 11 categories in Table 3. The most frequently introduced complementary solid food before six
months of age was infant cereal, given to more than 75% of infants. About 9% of mothers gave their
babies fruit juice or vegetable juice before six months. The timing of the introduction of solid foods
Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 4 of 10

was associated with the years of education of mothers as shown in Table 2. Only one mother had
received less than 10 years of education.

Table 1. Demographic information at birth for mothers who introduced solid foods before four months
and between four months and six months.

Introduced before Introduction between

p Value
Four Months Four and Six Months
<25 134 (19.4%) 12 (19.0%) 0.943
Maternal age (years)
≥25 556 (80.6%) 51 (81.0%)
<9 82 (11.9%) 10 (15.9%) 0.471
Maternal education
level (years) 10–12 145 (21.0%) 10 (15.9%)
>12 463 (67.1%) 43 (68.3%)
No formal employment 92 (13.3%) 11 (17.5%) 0.361
Maternal occupation
Formal employment 598 (86.7%) 52 (82.5%)
Family monthly <5000 150 (23.4%) 18 (30.0%) 0.249
income (RMB)
≥5000 492 (76.6%) 42 (70.0%)
Mother intention to ≤6 320 (47.0%) 24 (38.7%) 0.211
return to work (months)
>6 361 (53.0%) 38 (61.3%)
Vaginal 241 (34.9%) 21 (33.3%) 0.799
Delivery method
Caesarean 449 (65.1%) 42 (66.7%)
Male 360 (52.2%) 32 (50.8%) 0.834
Infant’s gender
Female 330 (47.8%) 31 (49.2%)
<2500 11 (1.6%) 0 (0.0%) 0.613
Infant’s birth weight (g)
≥2500 679 (98.4%) 53 (100.0%)
Infant was admitted to No 671 (97.2%) 62 (98.4%) 0.720
NICU Yes 19 (2.8%) 1 (1.6%)
Infant’s first feed with No 530 (76.8%) 48 (76.2%) 0.911
breast milk Yes 160 (23.2%) 15 (23.8%)
NICU = neonatal intensive care unit.

Table 2. The rate of introducing solid food before four months by maternal education level.

Maternal Education The Number of Mothers Introducing Percentage Introducing Solid Total
Level (years) Solid Foods before Four Months Foods before Four Months Number
<12 years 9 3.6% 250
>12 years 41 8.04% 510
Total 50 6.58% 760
Chi Square 4.286, Degrees of freedom = 1, p = 0.0384.

While no infants were given solid food before one month, 6.6% had been introduced by four
months. The median age of introducing solid foods was five months. Eight infants had been introduced
to some solid foods before three months, and 50 infants by four months. The most common period for
introducing solid foods was between four and six months. Only 49 mothers had not given any solid
food to their infants by six months.
Solid foods first introduced to infants were rice porridge, infant cereal, noodles, protein foods,
chicken liver, fruit, and vegetable paste. The protein foods included egg and meat. The vegetable and
fruit pastes referred to homemade paste prepared from fresh vegetables or fruits. Among these seven
food groups, only infant cereal and protein foods were introduced before four months. Infant cereal
was the most frequently introduced solid food before six months of age. The earliest introduction of
infant cereal was only six weeks after birth and about 6% of mothers gave their babies infant cereal
before four months. Only 21.6% of mothers did not introduced infant cereal by six months postpartum
Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 5 of 10

(see Table 3). Though no infants were fed fruit paste or vegetable paste before four months, about
half of them were given fruit paste (49.7%) and vegetable paste (45.9%) during the four to six months
period. Few mothers gave rice porridge or noodles between four and six months (5.5% and 1.3%,
respectively), which had been replaced by packets of processed cereal.

Table 3. Types and timing of complementary foods.

Type of Introduction before Introduction between Not Introduced by Median Age of

Complementary Food Four Months Four and Six Months Six Months Introduction (Months)
Rice soup 3 (0.4%) 13 (1.7%) 744 (97.9%) 4.3
Fruit juice 21 (2.8%) 44 (5.8%) 695 (91.4%) 4.0
Vegetable juice 30 (3.9%) 39 (5.1%) 691 (91.0%) 4.0
Rice porridge 0 (0.0%) 42 (5.5%) 718 (94.5%) 5.0
Infant cereal 48 (6.3%) 548 (72.1%) 164 (21.6%) 5.0
Noodles 0 (0.0%) 10 (1.3%) 750 (98.7%) 5.0
Fruit paste 0 (0.0%) 378 (49.7%) 382 (50.3%) 5.0
Vegetable paste 0 (0.0%) 349 (45.9%) 411 (54.1%) 5.0
Protein foods * 5 (0.7%) 397 (52.2%) 358 (47.1%) 5.0
Water 680 (89.5%) 32 (4.2%) 48 (6.3%) 0.8
Chicken liver 0 (0.0%) 7 (0.9%) 753 (99.1%) 5.0
* Solid foods introduced to infants that included egg or meat.

The factors found associated with the early introduction of solid food before four months are shown in
Table 4. Mothers who had completed 12 years of education were more likely to introduce solid food to their
babies before four months than others with a lower educational level (odds ratio (OR) = 2.341). Mothers
who were employed and were local residents in Chengdu were more likely to introduce solid foods before
four months; OR = 8.315 and 2.096, respectively. The timing of return to work (before six months) was
also associated with the introduction of solid food before four months, OR = 2.173. Multivariate logistic
regression analysis further confirmed the significant association with ‘maternal education level’, with an
increased likelihood of introduction by more educated mothers (OR = 2.983, 95% confidence interval (CI)
1.232–7.219), but not the other three factors identified in the univariate analysis. The results related to the
introduction of solid food before six months are not shown as almost all infants (94%) had commenced solid
foods by this age and there were no significant influencing factors.

Table 4. Factors associated with the introduction of solid food before four months.

Introduced Solid Food before Four Months

Variable No Yes Univariate OR (95% CI)
n % n %
Maternal education level
≤12 years 241 96.4 9 3.6 1
>12 years 469 92.0 41 8.0 2.341 (1.119–4.897) *
Maternal occupation
No formal employment 103 99.0 1 1.0 1
Formal employment 607 92.5 49 7.5 8.315 **
Maternal residential status in Chengdu
No 336 95.7 15 4.3 1
Yes 374 91.4 35 8.6 2.096 (1.125–3.907) *
Mother intention to return to work
>6 months 385 95.5 18 4.5 1
≤6 months 315 90.8 32 9.2 2.173 (1.197–3.945) *
* p < 0.05. OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval. ** numbers too small to calculate CI
Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 6 of 10

4. Discussion
The early introduction of solid foods is a common practice in many cultures. Some mothers
believe that it can reduce sleep interruptions by increasing the time between overnight feeds, and can
increase the baby’s growth rate, the latter being viewed as beneficial in some cultures [18]. However,
the early introduction of solid foods may also increase infant morbidity and mortality, though it is
difficult to separate this effect from the decrease in breastfeeding and the dysbiosis of the microbiome.
In many countries foods and water supplies are likely to be contaminated with bacteria, resulting in
gastrointestinal infection [31–33].
The most common foods introduced to infants under six months of age in Chengdu were cereal
products. In the cities in China this is invariably a packaged fortified product, similar to infant cereal
products in western countries. Other common first solid foods introduced to infants were rice porridge,
noodles, fruit paste, vegetable paste, protein food, and chicken liver. This pattern of infant foods was
similar to the types of solid food introduced to infants in other cities of China [34–36]. In previous
decades rice porridge would have been very common, but in this study it was only fed to about 5%
of infants before six months. A dietary survey of five Chinese cities in 2012 (n = 750) found that all
infants had received solids by six to eight months, with manufactured infant foods (cereals) being
consumed by 36% of infants within the past 24 h [36]. The most commonly consumed complementary
foods varied between different studies, different cities, and provinces. In Beijing, for example, the food
most frequently introduced to infants was vegetables [34]. In a national survey of nine Chinese cities,
the most common solid food given to infants was eggs [35].
Most infant feeding guidelines, including in China, recommend the introduction of
complementary food at six months after birth [37,38]. Current recommendations are to introduce
nutritious complementary foods that provide a variety of nutrients, tastes, and textures, including
foods that contain iron [39]. A variety of different foods should be introduced. In this study, on average
6.6% of infants were introduced to solid food before four months, with 93.6% of them before six months.
In the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in far Western China, a cohort study found that 77.6% of
infants were given solid foods by six months [17,23]. The prevalence found here was similar to that of
Switzerland, where five percent of infants had received solid food before four months [40], but was
higher than the rate in Germany and lower than the rates in Australia and the United States in the
early 2000s [41–44].
The median age for the introduction of solid food in Chengdu was five months, similar to a
previous study conducted in Germany, but earlier than the median time observed in Beijing (six to
eight months) [34]. In this study, the earliest age a solid food was introduced was 1.5 months, whereas
in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 5.6% of infants had already been given solid foods in the
first two weeks of life [17].
Maternal education level was the only factor significantly associated with the introduction of
solid food before four months after adjustment for confounding factors. Mothers who had a higher
education level (>12 years) were more likely to introduce solid foods to infants before four months than
mothers with a lower education level (high school/occupational school or lower degree). Our finding
was different from results observed in developed countries, where highly educated mothers tended
to delay the introduction of solid food until four months [45,46]. However, it was consistent with a
previous study conducted in Beijing [34]. Such apparent association might be related to the current
employment situation in China where mothers with higher education levels have more responsibilities
from work and often need to return to their employment sooner than other mothers, in order to
maintain their position, as their parental leave is generally shorter than their counterparts in Western
societies [47]. The early introduction of solid foods has been shown to influence the composition of
the gastrointestinal microbiome causing dysbiosis [48]. It is likely that this is linked to long term
health outcomes, although research is still needed to quantify the magnitude of the effect and causal
pathways [49,50].
Nutrients 2019, 11, 760 7 of 10

Though most mothers introduced solid food to infants after four months, the prevalence of
introducing solid food before six months was very high. Introduction of solid food after six months
can lower morbidity through reducing infections [51]. Almost all public health authorities, including
the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend introducing solid foods at or after six
months [1,52]. The promotion of appropriate timing for introducing solid food would further improve
the health of infants in Chengdu.
There are several limitations that should be considered when interpreting the results of this study.
The sample was limited in geographic scope but was chosen to be representative of greater Chengdu,
an urban and semi-urban area with a population of 15 million. This population is similar in terms of
socio-economic status to other large urban and semi-urban areas of China. The results may not be
applicable to more remote rural areas in Sichuan or other provinces of China. There are also regional
variations of food culture within China where the food and nutrition practices described in this study
may not apply. The recruitment method using random number generation was designed to minimize
bias in selection, but this does not mean that the sample can be generalized to a wider population.
Major strengths of the study were the frequent interviews which might reduce errors in recall by the
mothers, the high response rate, and the low dropout rate during the study. To gain a complete picture
of complementary feeding for the entirety China would be very difficult due to the vast area, large
population, and many distinct population subgroups. However, Chengdu has many demographic
characteristics typical of large Chinese cities and was chosen as a representative location.

5. Conclusions
More than 94% of the infants were given complementary foods (semi-solid or solid foods) before
the age of six months and around 10% by four months. More antenatal and postnatal health promotion
efforts targeting Chinese mothers are required to highlight the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding until
six months and introducing solid foods later than the current practice in Chengdu. Further education
about the benefits of delaying the introduction of complementary foods to around six months is also
recommended for health professionals including pediatricians, midwives, and community health staff.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, C.W.B. and A.H.L.; methodology, C.W.B., A.H.L., and C.Y.; validation,
C.W.B., A.H.L., and C.Y.; formal analysis A.H.L. and C.Y.; data curation, C.Y.; writing—original draft preparation,
C.Y.; writing—review and editing, C.W.B., A.H.L., and C.Y.; supervision, C.W.B.; project administration, A.H.L.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to the assistance provided by the nursing staff of the hospital and
community health centers in Chengdu, and to those mothers who took part in the interviews.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

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