Research Group Healthy Aging, Allied Health Care and Nursing, Hanze University of Applied Science, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Institute of Health Studies, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
J Texture Stud. 2017 Dec;48(6):534-540. doi: 10.1111/jtxs.12271. Epub 2017 May 15.
This study examined the effect of meals varying in amount, size, and hardness of food pieces on the development of the chewing capabilities of 8-month-old infants. The study also examined changes in shivering, gagging, coughing, choking, and their ability to eat from a spoon. In an in-home setting two groups were given commercially available infant meals and fruits, purees with either less, smaller and softer or more, larger and harder pieces. Both groups were given these foods for 4 weeks and were monitored several times during this period. After the 4-week exposure period infants in both groups were given the same five test foods. Structured questionnaires with questions on eating behavior and the child's development were conducted 6 times in the 4 to 12-month period and video analyses of feedings were conducted 4 times between 8 and 9 months. After the 4-week exposure period, the group that had been exposed to the foods with more, larger and harder pieces showed a significantly higher rating for chewing a piece of carrot and potato for the first time, but not for a piece of banana nor for mashed foods. Shivering, gagging, coughing, choking, and ability to eat from a spoon were not different between the two groups. These results contribute to the insight that exposure to texture is important for young children to learn how to handle texture. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: (a) The study shows the feasibility of testing the effects of texture interventions on chewing capability and oral responses such as gagging, coughing, and choking in infants. (b) The study contributes to the insight that exposure to food texture to learn how to handle texture is important for infants and showed that exposing children to a higher amount of larger pieces improves their chewing capability for a piece of carrot and potato, at least immediately after the intervention.
这项研究考察了不同量、大小和食物块硬度的餐食对 8 个月大婴儿咀嚼能力发展的影响。该研究还考察了颤抖、呛咳、咳嗽及其用勺子进食能力的变化。在家庭环境中，两组婴儿分别食用市售婴儿餐和水果，其中一组食物的泥状物含有较少、较小和较软的食物块，另一组食物含有较多、较大和较硬的食物块。两组婴儿在 4 周内接受这些食物，并在此期间多次接受监测。在 4 周暴露期结束后，两组婴儿都给予相同的 5 种测试食物。在 4 至 12 个月期间，进行了 6 次关于进食行为和儿童发育的结构化问卷调查，并在 8 至 9 个月期间进行了 4 次喂养视频分析。在 4 周暴露期结束后，暴露于量更大、更大块且更硬食物的组，首次咀嚼胡萝卜和土豆的评分显著更高，但香蕉和泥状食物则不然。两组婴儿的颤抖、呛咳、咳嗽、窒息和用勺子进食的能力没有差异。这些结果表明，暴露于质地对于幼儿学习如何处理质地很重要。实际应用：(a) 该研究展示了测试质地干预对咀嚼能力和口部反应（如呛咳、咳嗽和窒息）的影响的可行性，这些反应在婴儿中。(b) 该研究表明，暴露于食物质地以学习如何处理质地对婴儿很重要，并表明让儿童接触更多的大块食物可以提高他们对胡萝卜和土豆的咀嚼能力，至少在干预后立即如此。
