Infants allowed to feed themselves with finger foods from the start of weaning are likely to eat more healthily and be an appropriate weight as they get older than infants spoon-fed purées.
Such baby-led weaning could help ward off obesity in later childhood, according to researchers who found carbohydrates presented whole — like toast — may enhance a child’s awareness of textures, which are lost when food is puréed. Spoon-fed children preferred sweet foods.
Source:
BMJ Open, February 2012