Fruits and Veggies: All Forms Fit

2 min read • By: Gerber Medical Hub

Polaroid of baby laying down surrounded by fruits and vegetables

Quick summary

Complementary foods are vital for infants when transitioning to solid foods at around 6 months of age, providing essential nutrients. Caregivers decide between homemade and commercial purees based on cultural, convenience, and cost factors. Research suggests that both options offer similar nutritional quality, highlighting the importance of variety in an infant's diet.

Table of contents

Test Your Knowledge
Why are complementary foods important?
What factors influence caregivers’ decisions?
What does the scientific literature suggest?
References

Test Your Knowledge

Which of the following are benefits of fruit and vegetable baby food purees (commercially prepared and home prepared)?

Developmental appropriateness
Wide variety available
Nutrient density
All the above (and more)

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Reveal the correct answer

D. All of the above. Commercially prepared and home prepared baby food purees (from fresh, frozen, or canned) are considered developmentally appropriate forms of the fruits and vegetables food groups [1,2]. Commercially prepared purees provide year-round shelf-stable options for fruit and vegetable intake whereas home prepared purees allow caregivers to customize ingredients. Eating fruits and vegetables in different forms (cooked and fresh) may provide a variety of micronutrients. Data suggest that both home prepared and commercially prepared purees have similar nutrient density [3].

Why are complementary foods important?

Complementary foods are foods or drinks other than breast milk or infant formula e.g., infant cereals, fruits, vegetables, water (4). Complementary foods play an important role in the infant diet as nutrient needs increase and infants transition from breast milk and/or infant formula as a sole source of nutrition to starting solid foods around the age of 6 months [5-12]. A variety of fruits and vegetables are recommended especially those that provide potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C (13). Many commercially prepared baby food fruits have added Vitamin C as well. Beans, peas, and lentils are a vegetable subgroup and can also be part of baby’s diet starting around 6 months.

What factors influence caregivers’ decisions?

What factors influence caregivers’ decisions in making home prepared fruit and vegetable purees versus buying commercially prepared fruit and vegetable purees?

Many factors influence the decision to make home prepared purees, buy commercial purees, or a combination of both. These factors may include cultural practices and beliefs, attitudes, education, experience, peer group influence, convenience, availability, accessibility, and cost [14–16]. There is disagreement on whether home prepared or commercially prepared purees are less expensive [16]. Carstairs et al. [17] concluded that home prepared recipes provide a cheaper meal option, however most commercial recipes provided an energy-dense meal with greater vegetable variety per meal in comparison to their home prepared counterparts. Regardless of cost, there is large variability in ingredient selection and preparation methods of home prepared purees, and limited data on their nutritional quality [16–19].

What does the scientific literature suggest?

The nutritional quality is mentioned above, what does the scientific literature suggest?

Research supports the fact that all forms of produce are nutritious and baby food puree is a great nutritious choice. A recent study [3] found that:

There is similar nutrient content between select commercially prepared baby food purees (apples, bananas, mangoes, peaches, and pears; butternut squash, carrots green beans, green peas, and sweet potatoes) and home prepared versions.
Fruits and vegetables prepared in different ways allows for intake of different nutrient profiles from fresh and cooked fruits and vegetables.
Nutrients vary widely by the kinds of fruits and vegetables, more so than how they are prepared, so dietary guidance for nutrient intake from fruits and vegetables is to have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in the diet. Commercially prepared and home prepared purees are nutritious choices that make it easy to focus on variety in the diet.