Temporally Meal Menu For Infants

Abstract

The invention concerns a kit of parts and a method for providing nutrition which provides within a time period of 5 to 10 days a nutritional composition comprising 0.35 to 6 mg iron per 100 g, a nutritional composition comprising 1 to 10 g fibre per 100 g and a nutritional composition comprising 10 to 5000 mg long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids per 100 g to an infant.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to a method for providing nutrition to infants.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Between the age of 4 to 36 months, children are gradually introduced to the adult diet. In this transition period, the diet changes from breast milk, infant formulae and / or follow on formulae to solid and semi-solid foods, unadapted cow's milk and other beverages. During this period the child increasingly becomes accustomed to eating adult-type foods and becomes familiar with a wide range of textures and tastes.[0003]Providing a nutritionally well-balanced diet is in this group very important, since nutrition in the early years of life is a major determinant of healthy growth and development throughout childhood and of good health in adulthood. In this particular phase of development, the infant has specific nutritional requirements.[0004]Offering home cooked dinners does not always result in this well-balanced diet on a weekly basis, since often in a hou...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]Dietary fibre is beneficial for infants because it normalises the defecation pattern and consistency. The intake of dietary fibre has a beneficial effect in constipation, prevents infection and / or stimulates the immune system through stimulating the colonic flora. Fibres have a saturating effect, and hence have a beneficial effect on satiety and sleep.

[0008]Long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are essential components of the brain, eyes and nervous system. Particular during a child's first years LC-PUFA have an important nutritional benefit in that they are important for mental and neurological functions. The role of omega-3 LC-PUFA fatty acids in brain development makes their dietary intake particularly important for infants. Low intake of LC-PUFA intake has been linked with several health issues, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), digestive problems, eczema, asthma and multiple allergies. Also intake of sufficient amounts of LC-PUFA in an infant can prevent diseases occurring later in life, such as hypertension.

[0010]Generally, it is recommended that the daily food intake be divided amongst three meals a day and 2 up to 3 snack moments. However, a substantial part of the diet, on a caloric basis, is derived from the dinner, the main meal of the day. In infants the caloric intake of this ranges from 15 to 35% of the daily caloric intake. So having, on a weekly basis, nutritionally well-balanced dinners significantly contributes to the health of infants.

[0013]Furthermore, the present invention provides a kit of parts containing different nutritional compositions, suitable for use in the present method. The present kit has the advantage that parents do not need to keep detailed records of the nutritional components that the infant has already ingested during the week. The kit provides a tool for the parents to improve nutrition. In practise the intake of nutrients by the infant is often neglected, potentially resulting in deficiency of nutritional components. The present method and kit thus increase convenience and reduce the occurrence of nutrient deficiencies.

Problems solved by technology

Also insufficient amounts of zinc are usually ingested.

Low iron levels may result in iron deficiency anaemia and have an impact on cognitive skills, when body iron stores are depleted.

Many infants above 1 year of age consume a lot of unadapted cow's milk, and this results in a low overall intake of iron, since unadapted cow's milk decreases the bioavailability of iron.