title: Food variety in commercial and homemade complementary meals for infants in Germany. Market survey and dietary practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Already infants do not meet the recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake although the complementary feeding period offers the possibility to expose the infant to a variety of flavours from fruits and vegetables. The objective of the present analysis was to identify differences in the vegetable variety in commercial vs. homemade complementary meals and to describe fish and meat variety in these meals in dietary practice in Germany. A further objective was to provide an overview of the food variety in commercial complementary vegetable-potato-meat/fish meals available on the German baby food market in 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  3-day weighed dietary records from the German DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study were used to describe the fish and meat variety and to compare the vegetable variety in commercial and homemade meals using a vegetable variety score (VegVS). The online data base 'Nutrichild' served to describe the food variety on the market.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The vegetable variety was low in homemade as well as in commercial meals without any differences in total variety at 6 and 9months of age. At 12months of age infants fed with commercial meals got a higher vegetable variety than those fed with homemade meals. In homemade and commercial meals most often carrot was used, whereas other vegetables were far below this frequency. In both meals, poultry and beef were most often used whereas fish meals were rarely offered. The market survey showed the same low vegetable variety and low fish offer as the results of the DONALD study. The data show that it is necessary to promote the advantages of a vegetable variety and fish consumption in Germany, already in early infancy.
authors: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany. Electronic address: mesch@fke-do.de.
authors: Christina M
authors: CM
authors: Mesch
authors: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Madlen
authors: M
authors: Stimming
authors: IEL-Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Bonn, DONALD Study Centre at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Kristina
authors: K
authors: Foterek
authors: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Annett
authors: A
authors: Hilbig
authors: IEL-Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Bonn, DONALD Study Centre at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Ute
authors: U
authors: Alexy
authors: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Mathilde
authors: M
authors: Kersting
authors: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE), Heinstueck 11, D-44225 Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Lars
authors: L
authors: Libuda
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005518:Food Preferences; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D017747:Seafood; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Complementary food; Food variety; Germany; Infants; Vegetables