Longitudinal study on acceptance of food textures between 6 and 18 months

The timely complementary food introduction is important for the development of healthy eating. However, little evidence is available about when to introduce which texture during this period. This study aims to fill this gap by measuring the evolution of food texture acceptance and feeding behaviours between 6 and 18 months. Two groups of healthy children participated in the study: at 6, 8, and 10 months (n = 24) and at 12, 15 and 18 months (n = 25), respectively. They were offered foods with different textures (purees, double textures, cooked pieces, sticky and hard foods) at an age when few infants were already familiar with these textures. For each food texture, children's acceptance (ability to process and swallow a food) and feeding behaviours (sucking and chewing) were assessed by the investigator; liking was assessed by parents. At 6 months, pureed and double textures were highly accepted (Acceptance Probability AP > 0.8); when offered at 8 months, cooked pieces were highly accepted (AP > 0.8). Up to 10 months, the acceptance of more complex textures (e.g. cheese, bread crust) increased strongly with age as did chewing behaviour. At 12 months, most food textures were accepted (AP > 0.5), except raw vegetable pieces and pasta (AP < 0.35), and chewing behaviour was predominant over sucking. Up to 18 months, raw vegetable pieces and pasta acceptance increased with age and was > 0.5 at 18 months. In conclusion, children accepted most textures at an earlier age than their parents' feeding practices; their feeding behaviours depended on age and food texture and acceptance of hard textures was related to the development of chewing.