SACN Feeding young children aged 1 to 5 years

SACN has undertaken a comprehensive review of the scientific basis of current dietary recommendations for feeding young children aged 1 to 5 years. The report considers:

• national survey data on food and nutrient intakes and status, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and dental caries
• evidence from systematic reviews examining a number of dietary factors and child, adolescent and adult health outcomes, as well as evidence on factors that influence eating and feeding behaviour, and diversification of the diet in the early years

The report includes SACN’s recommendations to government and recommendations for future research. The annexes provide detailed information on the methods used (including literature search), data extraction evidence tables, quality assessment and grading of the systematic review evidence, and additional analyses.

This report forms part of a wider piece of work by SACN considering the evidence underpinning recommendations for feeding children up to 5 years of age, of which the first part, ‘Feeding in the first year of life’, was published in 2018.