The timing of introduction of solid foods and food type during the first year of life in children in Qazvin, Iran

The timing of the transition and the quality of infants’ diet can have important health implications. The purpose of the present study was to detect the factors that affect the times of introduction of solid foods and food type through the first year of life in healthy infants. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012 to determine complementary feeding pattern and associated factors in 707 children in Qazvin. Chi-square test, ANOVA and t-tests were employed to analyse the data. The results showed that 44.8% of mothers in this study indtroduced solid food when their child was 6 months old. The mean age of initiating complementary food was 5.7 ± 1.1 months and “Fereni” (a kind of cereal food) was the first complementary food (73.7%). The mean age of initiating solid foods in unemployed mothers was 5.8 ± 1.1 months and in employed mothers was 5.5 ± 1.1months (p < 0.05). Complementary food was introduced earlier in the group of fathers with a higher educational level (p < 0.05). According to our findings, the complementary feeding pattern in Qazvin appeared to be satisfactory based on the World Health Organization recommendations.