I was initially willing to be open minded about this study, but the more I read, the sketchier it seems. Even if (and, IMO, it’s still a really big IF) there are benefits to introducing solids (in the area of avoiding food allergies), there are numerous long term studies that have proven that breastfeeding lowers a person’s risk of obesity for their lifetime. The more outrageous the claims of this docto, become, the more I’m starting to believe that in 6 months after some peer review, we’ll be getting news that it’s all some sort of a scam. Also, from an evolutionary standpoint, it seems pretty obvious why babies are programmed to avoid bitter tastes. In nature, many bitter tasting things are poisonous, so it wouldn’t have made sense for early toddler to be drawn to them.

I will withhold judgment until they are done revisiting the evidence and can cite to research showing that exclusive BF to 6 mos actually DOES increase the incidence of celiac disease, food allergies, and childhood obesity. Till then, I will continue to trust the WHO and its “systematic review” of the existing research. When researchers qualify with “mays” and “coulds” it often means that these are working hypotheses and/or areas of potential inquiry, whereas the WHO’s current recommendations are based on analysis of documented trends.

The recommendation of the study was to revisit advice as new evidence emerges. That’s really not a bad recommendation in my book. The idea of a conflict of interest needs to be scrutinized since it is neither necessary nor sufficient to deny any claim as being false. It’s called attacking the motive and it’s a logical fallacy. The media’s reporting of this study was the real issue.
Regarding the low income North Carolinian baby study – juice is not the same as feeding solids. Low income communities have other risk factors for obesity (including genetics and lower educational attainment). Please make sure that comparisons being made are valid. Also, a single community of children can’t be generalized to be true for all children. A local study with a narrow population is just that kind of study. I suspect the goal was to identify risk factors in a population that has proportionately higher obesity rates of incidence and develop recommendations that pertain to THAT group. then again, i will read it tonight and correct myself if this is not the case.
http://statgirlskewer.blogspot.com/2011/01/breastfeeding-paranoia-feed-my-child.html

Oy. Here come the lacto-nutsos. Run!

On another note, Teen Mom on MTV shows these poor sad infants getting juice from their clueless moms and I wanna rip it out of their claws.

The assertion that failing to introduce solids to infants at the right time will impair their acceptance of vegetables and lead to poor diets and obeisty is ridiculous. The flavors of the mother’s diet are passed from the mother to the infant through the amniotic fluid and breast milk. Thus, flavor learning occurs before the baby is even born, and is further augmented through breastfeeding. Research suggests breastfed infants will be more accepting of new vegetables, and, to my knowledge, there is no research showing that vegetables must be introduced between 4-6 months to be accepted into the diet. What is more important than the timing of introduction is the method of introduction – if any new food, vegetables included, is presented consistently (every day) and in a positive environment, infants will learn to accept it, even if they initially reject it.

It’s a shame when writers don’t take the time to read the “studies” or background facts they write about, because with sensational headlines like this they can do a lot of harm. This Fewtrell BMJ article was NOT a study or new research, it was an opinion piece. A quick trawl through the responses to the article would show its many weaknesses. And although the recommendations by WHO, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the UK Department of Health ALL recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months, with continued breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary foods after that, exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months are even lower in the UK than they are in the US. Less than 2% of UK babies are exclusively breastfed at six months while about 13% of US babies are. Parents just want to do the best for their babies. Careless scientists, journalists and headline-writers can make it unnecessarily confusing, with ever more damaging effects on the health of our babies and our population as a whole.