Evaluation of the effects of different practices in the transition to complementary feeding on eating behaviors and appetite in children

For healthy development, children should be fed in accordance with their age, gender and activity. Complementary feeding, which is initiated when breast milk alone cannot meet the needs of the child, is a period when children are introduced to new tastes and new nutritional experiences. Managing this period in a healthy way is important for children to acquire the right nutritional characteristics in their future lives. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the effects of different practices performed by families during the complementary feeding period on their children's eating behaviors and appetite. The cross-sectional, descriptive study included 393 mothers with children aged 2-5 years. "Questionnaire on Sociodemographic Characteristics of Parents", "Questionnaire on Sociodemographic Characteristics of Children", "Assessing the Status of Transition to Complementary Nutrition Questionnaire" and "Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire" prepared by the researcher were used as data collection tools. Data were analyzed with SPSS 22 package program. Descriptive Statistics, Cronbach Alpha Reliability Test, Independent Sample t-Test, One-Way ANOVA, Chi-square Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, Pearson, Spearman Correlation Tests and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to evaluate the data. For all tests, p significance level was accepted as p˂0.05. Among the children of the mothers who participated in the study, 51.7% (n=203) were girls and 48.3% (n=190) were boys. The mean age of the children was 44.2±11.9 months. In our study, boys and children with higher BMI were found to have a higher appetite, but no relationship was found between age groups and appetite status. Appetite loss was found to be higher in children of working mothers and in those whose family income was below the minimum wage. Large family structure had a positive effect on appetite, whereas appetite loss in siblings had a negative effect. In our study, the CEBQ subgroup with the highest score was satiety responsiveness and the subgroup with the lowest score was emotional overeating. No relationship was found between the time of switching to complementary feeding, families' adherence to the 3-day rule, adding salt and sugar to complementary foods, and feeding in front of the screen and the subgroups of the CEBQ and appetite. During the transition to complementary feeding, the appetite of children who had fewer daily meals, who were not offered different tastes, and who started consuming cow's milk after the age of 1 year was significantly lower, whereas the appetite of children who received iron supplements was significantly higher (p˂0.05). It was found that iron and vitamin supplementation, duration of only breastfeeding, use of formula, being provided meals in the form of puree during the complementary feeding process, the number of daily meals, having the baby taste various tastes, the time of giving cow's milk, whether the child was allowed to eat on his/her own, and the use of pressure, reward, and punishment methods for the child to eat affected the eating behaviors of the children (p˂0.05). The characteristics of the foods offered to children by families during the complementary feeding period and the methods used in offering these foods affect children's eating behaviors and appetite in later life. Therefore, family physicians, who are in frequent contact with children and families, should raise the awareness of families about recommended and non-recommended practices in complementary feding and raise the awareness of families on this issue.