Self-selection of diet by young children

Self-selection of diet by young children (German: "Free selection of food by small children") is the summarized term for a long-term study carried out in the 1920s and 1930s by the American pediatrician Clara Marie Davis on the free choice of food for small children before Weaning . Davis published the results of her studies in 1928, 1933 and 1939. The study has since been cited in numerous scientific articles and is considered a classic. The 2 main articles have been reissued, the 1928 article in Nutrition Reviews in 1986 and the 1939 article is freely available on PubMed Central as a PDF .

backgrounds

Even then, the conflict between appetite / enjoyment and scientifically based dietary recommendations ruled in nutritional science . Davis based their arguing to the very present at that time concepts of Curt Richter , instinct and specific Appetite ( eng . Specific appetites). Experts see this early study as one of the forerunners of the concept of "sensory-specific satiety" by Barbara J. Rolls and Edmund T. Rolls (UK).

Objectives of the study

Clara Marie Davis was a pediatrician from Winnetka , Illinois , USA. She started the experiment in 1926 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Cleveland . Davis sought answers to four key questions:

1. After weaning, are infants who have never been in contact with solid foods able to choose from a selection of natural, unmixed, and unseasoned foods without adult assistance, enough to meet their caloric needs?
2. Would the selection be purely caloric or would there be pre-defined preferences; if so, would they be vegetarian , carnivorous or omnivorous ?
3. How about the digestion of these children - without disturbances or with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and undigested stools?
4. Would growth, teething, weight gain and general well-being be comparable to conventionally fed children?

Results published in 1928

At the pilot project only three infants aged 6 to 11 months participated, the duration was 6 and 12 months. Davis published the following results in 1928:

1. Self-selecting simple, natural foods is a safe practice for breastfeeding toddlers after weaning.
2. Children of this age are able to digest simple natural foods, including meat and offal.
3. The digestion of the foods chosen by the children was optimal.
4. The choice of food resulted in optimal growth, weight and bone development, muscles, vitality and wellbeing.

Results published in 1939

The second study on 15 children lasted 6 years, the duration of participation for each child was between 6 months and 4½ years. The results published in 1939 were:

1. None of the children spontaneously chose a diet with large amounts of grain or dairy products - contrary to the (still valid) doctrine of nutritional science (the basis of the food pyramid ).
2. None of the children became overweight or underweight during the study period.
3. All of the children developed a skeleton and musculature that was radiologically proven to be excellently calcified.
4. After a short time, preferences were established that were different for each child and that also varied unpredictably over time (e.g. preference for raw beef during an infectious disease ( Pfeiffer's glandular fever )). At the time, Davis justified this with specific appetites according to Curt P. Richter , according to today's knowledge, experts would argue with sensory-specific satiety .

Course of meals

The toddlers had 34 foods to choose from, each presented in a separate bowl on a tray. While eating, the child sat on the lap of a midwife who handed the child the food of their choice without influencing their decision. There were 3 (initially 4) meals per day of 25-30 minutes each.

Used foods

The tables show, separated according to vegetable and animal origin, in which form (raw and / or cooked) which foods were available.

Plant-based foods class Food raw cooked fruit Apple Yes Yes banana Yes No orange juice Yes No Pineapple (fresh) Yes No peach Yes No vegetables tomato Yes No Red beet No Yes carrot Yes Yes pea Yes Yes May beet No Yes cauliflower No Yes White cabbage Yes Yes spinach No Yes potato No Yes salad Yes No Grain oatmeal Yes Yes wheat Yes Yes Cornmeal No Yes barley No Yes Rye - crispbread No Yes

Animal products class Food raw cooked milk milk No Yes Sour milk No Yes Eggs Eggs Yes Yes flesh beef Yes Yes Lamb No Yes Bone marrow Yes Yes gelatin No Yes chicken No Yes Offal Sweetbreads No Yes brain No Yes liver No Yes kidney No Yes fish Fish ( haddock ) No Yes Unclassified foods class Food raw cooked Unclassified water Yes No sea-salt Yes No

criticism

Critics today describe the study as being methodologically unclean, outdated, unethical and unrealistic, and the results are not relevant for the composition and selection of the diets of young children.

literature

• Davis CM Self selection of diet by newly weaned infants: an experimental study. Am J Dis Child 1928; 36 (4): 651-79 [reprinted as a Nutrition Classics article in Nutr Rev 1986; 44: 114-6].
• Clara M. Davis. A practical application of some lessons of the self-selection of diet study to the feeding of children in hospitals. At J Dis Child. 1933; 46 (4): 743-750.

Web links

• Davis CM. Results of the self-selection of diets by young children. Can Med Assoc J 1939; 41: 257-61, PMC 537465 (free full text)
• Clara M. Davis and the wisdom of letting children choose their own diets. 2006 PMID 17098946 , PMC 1626509 (free full text)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nancy Munro: A Review of the 1928 Research by Clara Davis, "Self Selection of Diet by Newly Weaned Infants" In: "Journal of Home Economics", Vol. 58, No. 8, October 1966, pp. 655-658.