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Friday 23 September 2016 11:28am

Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research (EDOR) members have published in the international journal Pediatrics their findings that babies who feed themselves are no more likely to experience choking than babies who are spoon-fed.

The baby-led weaning approach, in which babies over 6 months of age are introduced to solid food by feeding themselves small, graspable pieces of food, is growing in popularity.  But concerns had been raised about whether it increased the risk of choking on food.

The Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS) study set out to investigate a form of baby-led weaning, modified to address concerns including choking. After following more than 200 babies over a 12-month period, they have concluded that there is no increased risk of choking compared with more traditional spoon-feeding.

Associate Professor Rachael Taylor and Dr Anne-Louise Heath, co-principal investigators for the study, and lead author of the study Louise Fangupo, point out that many parents in both the spoon-fed and baby-led groups still offered their baby high-choking-risk foods.

"Infants following a baby-led approach to feeding that includes advice on minimizing choking risk do not appear more likely to choke than infants following more traditional feeding practices. However, the large number of children in both groups offered foods that pose a choking risk is concerning."

International interest in the BLISS study

The latest findings from the BLISS study have generated much international interest and have featured in numerous media publications in North America, totalling a readership of more than 81 million people.

Further information

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