Design of safe foods that induce mastication in very young children

Abstract Background/purpose In order to obtain information for the design of foods for infants and other young children, we analyzed bite size and mastication of children eating test foods with their fingers. Methods Using baked stick biscuits (Food A: newly designed biscuits for children; or Food B: commercially available control biscuits) as the test foods, we analyzed how children grasped the foods themselves with their fingers, bit into the items, and finished swallowing. Among 79 children who went to nursery school or preschool in a specified prefecture and gave consent to the objectives of this study, there were 54 for whom three dimensional motion analysis data from two trials for each food were obtained. Results Bite weight was significantly larger for Food A, and the bite length was significantly greater for Food B. The number of jaw movements was about 25 for both foods, being the least in the primary occlusion completion period group (Hellman's dental age ⅡA) for Food B. The maximum mastication distance for Food A was significantly longer, by 1.25 times, in the early period of primary occlusion completion group (Hellman's dental age ⅠC) and was longer, by approximately 1.2 times, in the II A period group. The total trajectory distance was significantly longer for Food A, by 1.2 times, in the IC period group and by 1.1 times in the IIA period group. Conclusion In designing foods for children, it is considered necessary to examine the design by dividing the target ages into 1–2 years and 3–5 years. It is also suggested that Food A not only requires a greater number of jaw Q2 movements but also is likely to produce more dexterous mandibular movements.