Australian infants’ food avoidance trajectory groups across the first year of life and associations with food fussiness and vegetable intake at 12 months

Food avoidant eating behaviours in children are negatively associated with vegetable intake and diet quality. However, little is known about trajectories of food avoidance during infancy. This study examined food avoidant trajectory groups in the first year of life and their associations with fussiness and vegetable intake. Australian parents of infants aged ≤4 months were recruited for a longitudinal study. Data from waves 1-5 (up to 12 months) were used. Food avoidance was measured via parent report of satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating using the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire at waves 1-4. Food fussiness was measured using the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire at wave 5. Vegetable intake at 12 months was assessed using a validated food frequency question. Group-based trajectory analysis identified food avoidance groups from waves 1-4. Associations with fussiness and vegetable intake were assessed using multiple linear and ordinal logistic regression. There was complete data for 330 participants (327 mothers). Three trajectory groups were identified (least, intermediate, and most avoidant), with food avoidance decreasing slightly over time. Compared to the most avoidant group, the least avoidant (β - 0.76 [CI -1.01, -0.51], p < 0.001) and intermediate groups (β - 0.57 [CI -0.80, -0.34], p < 0.001) exhibited lower levels of fussiness at 12 months. There were no significant associations between trajectory groups and vegetable intake. Given the predominance of mothers in the sample, further investigation into food avoidance trajectories, in diverse parent samples, the factors that influence them, and their relationship with dietary intake from infancy throughout childhood may be useful for informing early healthy eating interventions.