When the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Childhood (ALSPAC) investigated whether giving  supplementary drinks reduced milk consumption, they made some interesting discoveries:

• At 8 months of age, 13.9% of infants were having no formula or breast milk¹
• Fewer infants under 12 months of age were fed cows’ milk compared with a nationally representative study conducted 5 years previously¹
• A mother’s education level was significantly linked to the choice of drinks given to infants²

Mothers were more likely to be giving cows' (or other animal) milk as a main drink to their 8-month-olds if they had had a vocational education, lived in council accommodation, had two or more children or were on low income.²

The authors concluded that a minority of 8-month-old infants are receiving nutritionally-appropriate drinks, despite current UK Department of Health guidelines.¹
 
Over 1,000 babies aged 4 and 8 months were involved in the study. Their carers recorded all drinks consumed by the infant over a 24 hour period at two ages, detailing the type of drink and volume taken (see table below).¹

Although many infants were given supplementary drinks by 4 months, this only led to a small reduction in milk intake.

The proportion of infants consuming various drinks at 4 and 8 months of age from records of dietary intake kept by the carers of 933 infants at 4 months and 1178 infants at 8 months of age.¹

To find out more about ALSPAC, click here, alternatively you can visit: www.alspac.bris.ac.uk