Timing Of First Solid Food Linked To Diabetes

Moms: now you have even more to worry about.
In children already at a higher risk for developing type 1 diabetes, missing the right time for introducing solid foods into your baby's diet may increase their risk.
According to Jill Norris, Ph.D., MPH, of the Colorado School of Public Health in Aurora and her colleagues, compared to exposing children to solid food between the ages of four and five months, both exposing them too early and too late increases their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
It is not all solid food however, that is associated with this risk. Specifically, the food group associated with a higher risk was rice or oats when exposed after the age of six months, says the study, published online in JAMA Pediatrics.
"These results suggest the safest age to introduce solid foods in children at increased genetic risk for type 1 diabetes is between 4 and 5 months," they wrote, noting that these findings are consistent with what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for solid food introduction.
Previous studies looking at the connection between the timing of solid foods and risk of type 1 diabetes have had conflicting results. Norris and her colleagues looked at data from the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young (DAISY), a longitudinal investigation of risk factors for the disease.
The new study looked at 1,835 children who either had testing for diabetes susceptibility alleles or had a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. Only those followed from birth with complete information about solid food exposure were included.
When solid food was introduced too late or too early, there was a greater risk of developing type 1 diabetes after adjustment for human leukocyte antigen genotype, having a first-degree relative with the disease, maternal education, and type of delivery.
As well, early exposure to fruit, but not fruit juice, also increased the risk for the disease, but the association became nonsignificant after accounting for other food exposures.
"The risk predicted by early exposure to solid foods might suggest a mechanism involving an abnormal response to solid food antigens in an immature gut system in susceptible individuals," the authors wrote. "As the increased risk is not limited to a specific food, it is possible many solids, including cereals and fruits, contain a common component that triggers an immature response."
However, the relationship between late exposure to solid foods and the risk for type 1 diabetes "may be related to the larger amounts given at initial exposure to older children. Also, if solid foods are introduced too late, when breast milk alone no longer meets the infant's energy and nutrient needs, nutrient deficiencies may occur, which may play a role in increasing... risk," said researchers.
"Additionally, the increased risk predicted by late exposure to solid foods may be related to the cessation of breastfeeding before solid foods are introduced, resulting in a loss of the protective effects of breast milk at the time of foreign food antigens," they wrote.
Reference: MedPage Today
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