Diet supplements are any ingestible preparation intended to supplement a person’s usual diet, and may include vitamins, minerals, herbs or botanicals, amino acids or metabolites – or any combination thereof. When introduced at complementary feeding ideally around 6 months they should be timely in providing extra energy and nutrition as breast milk or infant formula supply becomes inadequate; adequate, safe and responsively fed according to child signals of hunger or satiety.
Dietary Supplements
Dietary supplements include vitamins, minerals, herbs and other products designed to promote or treat specific health conditions. They come in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, gummies, powders drinks or energy bars and may not require extensive testing like drugs would.
Certain dietary supplements have been extensively researched and proven safe and effective, such as calcium and vitamin D for bone strength or folic acid for preventing birth defects during gestation. Others, however, show promise but require further studies before being recommended as healthy solutions.
Congress established the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, defining dietary supplements as any product containing “dietary ingredients” intended to add nutritional value to one’s diet. Such ingredients include vitamins and minerals; herbs or botanicals; amino acids; concentrates, metabolites, extracts or combinations of such substances. Each label must clearly state that its product is dietary supplements and not claim that it diagnoses, treats, mitigates, cures or prevents disease.
Foods to Introduce
Infant follow-on foods (also referred to as complementary or weaning food) are industrially produced fortified foods designed to supplement mother’s milk and homemade food once babies start weaning off of it. Examples of such products are infant formula, cereal-based powdered food, yoghurt with fruit and vegetables, cooked soft meat and dried beans/nuts; international societies recommend that infant follow-on food should be introduced 4-6 months post birth; however specific recommendations and timeframe may differ between countries. Fortification ensures these foods contain essential nutrients necessary for development while strict norms ensure food safety – essential components of lifelong nutrition in infants/young children! Fortification ensures these foods contain necessary nutrients while strict safety norms ensure food safety standards guarantee food safety ensuring their inclusion as key elements of their diet when feeding them later years/children/adulthood!
Frequently Asked Questions
Infants’ nutritional needs can best be met through breast-feeding for six months before adding family foods – especially homemade treats – (European Network for Public Health Nutrition, 2006). Pediatricians typically recommend feeding infants and young children industrially manufactured, fortified foods as an additional nutritional boost beyond breastfeeding and family meals. As food introduction is crucial to meeting energy and nutritional demands beyond those provided by breast milk, it must be timely, adequate and safe. Furthermore, responsive feeding – following cues from hunger signals from children – may also be important. [58]
Emerging research suggests that sensory experiences associated with food before and during initial diet stages have an enormous effect on children’s preferences and ultimately influence eating habits for life.
