The Ingestion Question: Public Knowledge of Safe Food Introduction in Children

Objectives National guidelines advise delaying initiation of solid foods until after 4–6 months of age and avoiding “high‐risk” foods under the age of 4 years. However, foreign body aspiration of food remains a common preventable pediatric emergency. Our primary aim was to investigate public knowledge regarding the safe age of introduction of different foods to children and determine if demographic factors affect this knowledge. Methods An online survey was designed following a literature review and consultation with an expert panel. This was distributed via social media platforms. A review of our institutional data of bronchoscopy/foreign body retrievals was performed to identify trends. Results There were 1000 survey responses: 79.4% of respondents cared for children and 21.5% were medical professionals; 37.7% of respondents (n = 385) would offer high‐risk foods to children