Diets of young Australians – are they starting off on the right path?

To achieve the full development potential of South Australia's children and adolescents.HDA is an independent non-partisan organisation that encourages the use of evidence-based policy along with universal, targeted and clinical interventions designed to maximise the developmental potential of infants, children, adolescents and families in South Australia.HDA is funded and supported by the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation, University of Adelaide (Robinson Research Institute), University of South Australia, Flinders University, the Department for Education, the Women’s and Children’s Health Network, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (Women and Kids), Department of Human Services, Department for Child Protection, and Novita.

Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA)

Join us for the Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) and SAHMRI Women and Kids forum.

Napier 102 lecture theatre, 1st floor, Napier Building, University of Adelaide

What a child is fed during the first two years of life is critical to ensure their optimal growth, health, and development to reach their full potential. Suboptimal feeding practices during this period have long-term health consequences that persist into adulthood. Despite recognising the importance of early life feeding practices, it is remarkable that there is no national data on what young children are being fed. The 2021 Australian Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (OzFITS) was designed to fill this gap. OzFITS was a cross-sectional survey of over 1100 parents of children under two years of age throughout Australia. The survey included a phone interview and a 24-hour food record. Overall, the findings were positive but there is room for improvement. Breastfeeding rates were high, with many mothers continuing to breastfeed into their child&#x27;s second year of life. For the most part, parents were introducing nutritious solids at the &#x27;right&#x27; age. The intake of iron-rich foods such as meat was low. Pouch food use was widespread as were ultra-processed foods. Nearly all the children received some &#x27;discretionary foods.&#x27; For most nutrients, intakes were adequate. Not surprisingly, iron intakes were too low, especially for infants six to twelve months, and toddler salt intakes were too high.We will finish our talk by identifying the gaps in the evidence and inconsistencies in current dietary advice. OUR SPEAKERSProfessor Tim Green BSc, MSc, PhD; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)Tim is the Principal Nutritionist in the Women and Kids Theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. His research focuses on micronutrients during the first 1000 days with studies conducted in Australia, Canada and New Zealand as well as several low-income and middle-income countries in South-East Asia, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. Dr Merryn Netting BSc BND PhD AdvAPD; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)Merryn is an NHMRC Early Career (Health Practitioner) Fellow and an experienced clinical pediatric dietitian. She is based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Merryn’s research focuses on the influence of early life nutrition on long term health, including development of food allergy. Najma Moumin, School of Medicine, University of AdelaideNajma is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. Her primary research interests are public health nutrition, dietary assessments, and evaluation. Najma’s PhD project, the Australian Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (OzFITS), was the first Australia-wide survey investigating early life feeding practices and dietary intakes in children under two years. For the first time, energy and nutrient intake data, relevant for public health policy, are available for this population. Ultimately, Najma hopes to translate this research into action and advocate for the inclusion of this age group in the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey.OUR CHAIRProfessor Rebecca Golley is the Deputy Director of Flinders Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University. She leads a research program focused on enhancing preventative care where children and families live, work, learn, eat and play. She is an internationally recognised public health nutrition researcher with a 16-year track record in intervention development, testing and translation to influence policy and practice that supports child growth, health and development. Professor Golley’s body of research has helped transform approaches to the prevention of childhood obesity and improved the ability to monitor and measure diet. Professor Golley cares about improving the early years system to make it easy for caregivers and families to care for themselves and for their children.Other event information:Networking and light refreshments will follow the session from 6.30pm.Open to everyone to attend from researchers, students, government, health services and the general community.

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Diets of young Australians – are they starting off on the right path?

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Diets of young Australians – are they starting off on the right path?

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