Babies with a family history of diabetes who were introduced to cereals before or after the recommended age of four to six months had a higher risk of developing a precursor to the disease, researchers said on Tuesday.
Two teams of researchers -- one from the University of Colorado at Denver and the other from the Diabetes Research Institute in Munich, Germany -- produced similar findings in multi-year studies of at-risk children that were both published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
They found that infants at risk of diabetes who were fed fiber or rice cereals before they reached the recommended age of four months were four to five times more likely to develop an autoimmune response that destroys islet cells in the pancreas than babies introduced to cereal between four and six months.
The destruction of islet cells, which make insulin and other hormones, is thought to lead to Type I diabetes, which often runs in families and affects two out of 1,000 Americans.
The Colorado study also indicated that infants not fed cereal until age seven months or later -- beyond the four-to-six month recommended window -- were also at higher risk for developing the disease precursor, study author Jill Norris wrote.
There are various theories about why fiber and rice cereals might trigger cell destruction in the pancreas in infants at risk of diabetes, Norris wrote.
One theory is that the immature infant`s gut reacts to the gluten in cereal with an excessive immune system response. In older infants with bigger appetites, the trigger may be the body`s response to the larger amounts of cereal consumed.
Another theory posed is that infants not fed cereal during the critical developmental stage between four and six months lack key nutrients such as vitamin E and zinc, which causes the immune system to overreact.
An editorial in the journal said parents should not misconstrue the findings as saying that infant cereals cause diabetes, nor should they be overly concerned about feeding their children fiber or rice cereals.
"At this stage, cautious interest might seem the appropriate response" to the studies, wrote Mark Atkinson of the University of Florida, Gainesville, and Edwin Gale of the University of Bristol, England.
Some young children who develop the precursor condition do not develop diabetes, the editorial said.
