For Starters

A large body of evidence demonstrates the importance of a healthy and balanced diet to infants’ and children’s early development and later life outcomes. Breastfeeding and good nutrition in the pre-school years have been found to be extremely important to children’s health, behavioural development and educational attainment. There is also emerging evidence that breastfeeding in infancy and good child nutrition can help protect against the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease in adulthood. This research shows that the period spanning pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life is a critical time for laying the foundations of healthy development.

However, despite this growing knowledge-base on the importance of good nutrition to children’s development, many infants and young children are still not receiving the balanced diet that they need in their foundation years. So far policy attention on child nutrition has been mainly confined to educational settings, despite the fact that infants and young children in the 0-3 age group – who are primarily cared for at home  – will not benefit from these initiatives. There remains an evidence-gap on the question of how we can best support parents to provide a healthy diet that meets the changing nutritional needs of their children as toddlers. It is parents that are primarily responsible for their children’s diets between 0-3, and yet not enough is known about the different factors that influence how parents feed their young children, and what works best in improving young children’s diets.

 

Research aims

This research project will have two core research aims: developing the evidence-base on nutrition in the early years and identifying the projects and services are most effective in improving nutrition for infants and young children.

• Developing the evidence base: We will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to build new evidence on the impact of good or poor nutrition in the early years on children’s subsequent health, behavioural and educational outcomes
• Identifying what works: We will identify examples of successful approaches to improving infant and toddler nutrition both in the UK and internationally. This will include public health schemes, education-led approaches and programmes led by brands or delivered in partnerships between businesses and the third-sector

 

Project approach

The nutrition in the early years project will include the following research components:

Review of evidence: The first phase of research will involve a desk-based scoping exercise to identify existing evidence and good practice, and pinpoint the gaps in the current knowledge-base, market development and policies in place.

Expert interviews: This desk-based research will be supplemented by a series of expert interviews across the relevant sectors to explore current thinking and policy approaches to nutrition in the early years.

Quantitative analysis: We will conduct new analysis of key longitudinal studies (e.g. the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and the Millennium Cohort Study) to develop new evidence on the impact of good or poor nutrition in the early years on children’s subsequent health, behavioural and educational outcomes

Consulting parents: we will conduct polling and focus groups with parents to explore their knowledge of toddlers’ nutritional needs, their current family food choices and influences on their family food choices.

Case studies: We will identify case studies of successful approaches to improving infant and toddler nutrition both in the UK and internationally. Case studies will be developed through interviews with service providers, service users and site visits.

Influencing policy

The project will culminate in a policy report that will draw together existing and new evidence and present practical policy recommendations for improving nutrition for children aged 0-3 aimed at stakeholders in central and local government, charities and the food industry. This report will be launched in Autumn 2012. 

For further information about this project please contact Louise Bazalgette at Louise.Bazalgette@demos.co.uk