Dietary fibre in infancy and childhood

Abstract

There is very little evidence for the effects of dietary fibre in young children and current dietary guidelines are based on assumptions and data extrapolated from studies in adults. The first years of life may be critical for the establishment of a healthy colonic microflora, as well as good eating habits. The lack of clear and well-founded guidelines for the intake of dietary fibre in childhood may hinder both factors. The fears that a high-fibre diet in children < 5 years of age will lead to growth faltering and mineral imbalance are not well supported in the literature, especially for children in the developed world. Indeed, with the rising levels of obesity, fibre intake may be of benefit in reducing energy intake. A low-fibre diet may also be implicated in the aetiology of childhood constipation and appendicitis. The latest proposals for the definition of dietary fibre include oligosaccharides, which may act as prebiotics. There are potential health benefits of including oligosaccharides in the diets of infants and children, but more research is needed to consider the long-term effects. The immature intestine of the infant may also result in a greater amount of starch entering the colon during weaning, and this starch would now be considered dietary fibre under the new definitions. Much new research is needed to allow adequate recommendations for the intake of dietary fibre in childhood based on data collected in appropriate age-groups. There is very little information available about the effects of dietary fibre in infancy and childhood. This situation has led to the recommendations for daily fibre intake in these age-groups to be based on guesswork, caution and extrapolation of data from adults. In the UK recommendations are very vague. The UK recommended dietary values for children state that fibre intake should be proportionately lower than that of adults, related to body size and that children < 2 years of age should not be given such foods (dietary fibre-containing) at the expense of energy-rich foods (Department of Health, 1991). In the USA the suggested levels are age (years) + 5 g/d (Dwyer 1995;Williams et al. 1995) and 0·5 g/kg (Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998).There have been fears that a diet too high in dietary fibre may lead to growth retardation and malabsorption of minerals (Department of Health, 1991). However, there is very little evidence that this situation exists in the developed world, and with the growing risk of obesity in children a fibre-rich diet that reduces energy intake may be of great benefit (Kimm, 1995). Moreover, good eating habits are developed early and in many countries adult fibre intakes are too low.It is important that the amount of dietary fibre recommended for young children is based on good information obtained in the age-groups concerned. As these data are lacking, the present review will consider the current state of our knowledge of non-digestible carbohydrates in infancy and childhood. In addition, as new definitions of dieta...

Evaluation of dietary fibre intake from infancy to adolescence against various references – results of the DONALD Study

“…Using this definition, fructo-and galactooligosaccharides present in breast milk (Kunz et al, 2000) as well as the amount of lactose that is not absorbed and escapes into the large intestine are counted in dietary fibre. In this case, dietary fibre is mentionable soon during the pre-weaning phase in infancy (Edwards and Parrett, 2003). Whereas breast-fed infants get such NDS, formula-fed infants do not, as long as common formula products are not supplemented with thickening agents and prebiotic compounds.…”

Dietary fibre and health in children and adolescents

“…However, recommendations for children and adolescents remain extrapolation from adult data which are not appropriate. Children are not little adults and at younger ages fibre may have different actions in the gut and on health, in young children the gut and its bacteria are still developing (27) . This approach may result in recommended intakes for children which are difficult to achieve in younger ages.…”

“…Australia and New Zealand set their adequate intake as the median dietary fibre intake from national dietary data plus an allowance ranging from 2 to 4 g/d for the resistant starch which may not be included in these data (13) . Although very high dietary fibre intake may have potential adverse effects such as decreased mineral absorption and development failure in high risk children (27,30) , no upper limits for dietary fibre were set in these recommendations. It is believed that in highly industrialised Proceedings of the Nutrition Society countries increasing fibre intake is unlikely to compromise growth and development (14,32) .…”

“…While some reviews have considered the evidence of dietary fibre in childhood and adolescence (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) , most are based on limited studies. Kranz et al (28) failed to identify many studies examining the effects of fibre intake on childhood constipation, obesity and diabetes.…”

Nutrient Composition of Cereals-based Complementary Flour and its Nutritional Adequacy in Infants Nutrition

“…The physiological role of fiber is to maintain an internal distension for peristaltic movement of the intestine (Alexy, Kersting, & Sichert-Hellert, 2006). Infant diet with high fiber content is not advisable as it tends to reduce nutrient digestibility as well as increase malabsorption of micronutrient, under this condition growth retardation may occur (Edwards & Parrett, 2003). Therefore, it is important to note that fiber content of infant's diets should not exceed the recommended level.…”