Breast-fed infants given solid foods at 4 months of age grow no faster than do those who first receive solid foods at 6 months, according to a recent study in Honduras by UC Davis nutritionists. "Early introduction of solid foods to any breast-fed baby will likely decrease its intake of nutrient-rich breast milk, but is particularly risky in developing nations, where the lack of proper sanitation may increase the chance of food contamination," says study co-author Kathryn G. Dewey, a UC Davis professor of nutrition and an authority on maternal and child nutrition. In light of the World Health Organization's recommendation to offer complementary foods to breast-fed babies sometime between 4 and 6 months of age, the nutritionists set out to determine if there was any advantage to starting infants on solid foods at the earlier end of the age span. They found that early introduction of solid foods resulted in no increase in caloric intake or infant growth. Furthermore, babies receiving solid foods significantly decreased their intake of breast milk, which, in addition to nutrients, provides important immunological benefits for young infants. The findings were published in the British medical journal Lancet.