0
0
For parents like me, introducing solid foods to our babies can be an exciting but overwhelming milestone. With my 6-month-old ready to try her first bites of food, I turned to dietary guidelines for guidance, only to find a surprising gap: while the USDA’s MyPlate guidelines provide well-researched advice for older kids and adults, similar evidence-based recommendations are lacking for children under 2 years old.
Minghua Tang, Ph.D., a professor and researcher specializing in pediatric nutrition, is working to address this void. Tang, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, explained that the dietary guidelines, which replaced the USDA Food Pyramid with MyPlate in 2011, are widely recognized as the gold standard for nutritional advice in settings like school lunch programs. Yet, when it comes to infants and toddlers, “there are not a lot of recommendations because not a lot of high-quality research has been done focusing on this age group,” she noted.
As a new parent, I can relate to the confusion surrounding infant feeding: Should we follow different guidelines if we’re breastfeeding or formula feeding? How much of each food group should our baby be getting? These are common questions with very limited official guidance to rely on.
The Maternal and Infant Nutrition Trial (MINT)
Tang aims to change that through a five-year research project known as the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Trial (MINT). Launched in 2021, MINT will gather crucial data on infant nutrition, with results expected by 2026. Tang’s team at the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) collaborates with registered dietitians, certified lactation consultants, and research professionals to study how different foods impact growth and gut health in infants.
“Infants deserve the same amount of attention as adults, if not more,” Tang emphasized.
One particularly intriguing part of Tang’s research focuses on baby-led weaning, a method that allows babies to feed themselves whole foods rather than being spoon-fed purees. As social media has popularized this approach, many parents are interested in exploring it as an alternative to conventional weaning. Tang’s team is conducting an offshoot study to investigate any nutritional or developmental differences between baby-led and traditional weaning.
Early findings, presented by registered dietitian and team member Kinzie Matzeller at the American Society of Nutrition Conference, revealed no significant differences in calorie and nutrient intake between the two groups. “Both types of weaning provide ample calories for growth and development,” Matzeller shared.
Studying the Youngest Among Us
MINT’s design is both rigorous and comprehensive. Parents bring their babies to the pediatric Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) at Children’s Hospital Colorado twice over the course of the study—once at the start and again when the baby turns 1 year old. There, specialized research nurses measure growth indicators such as weight, length, and head circumference, and collect blood samples. These hands-on assessments, coupled with the CTRC’s nutrition core, will help ensure the accuracy and depth of the study’s findings.
Monthly home visits by research coordinators further enhance the study’s rigor, as coordinators bring supplies, measure babies, and collect diet records and stool samples in the baby’s natural environment. Currently, around 260 families are involved in MINT, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind in infant nutrition.
Once the study concludes, Tang’s team will share findings directly with participating parents and the wider caregiving community. This groundbreaking research has the potential to inform future dietary guidelines, helping parents make informed decisions when introducing solid foods to their children.
As I introduce solids to my baby, it’s reassuring to know that researchers like Tang are working to close the knowledge gap, providing parents with scientifically backed guidance for nourishing our babies’ growth and development.
