INFANT has been endorsed as a recommended evidence-based program by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).
As the leading federal agency for cancer research in the United States, the NCI focuses on the scale up of proven health lifestyle programs. This commitment stems from recognising the crucial role of nutrition and physical activity throughout life in cancer prevention.
It has established a searchable database of evidence-based cancer prevention and control programs for public health practitioners and planners.
Following a comprehensive external and independent review of the published research supporting INFANT, the NCI endorsed INFANT as one of their recommended programs. INFANT is currently the only program listed in the database in this category that starts from birth and, was highly rated in terms of the integrity of the research backing the program, its dissemination capacity, adoption, implementation and reach.
This endorsement follows a 2023 review funded by the US Centre for Disease Control that identified INFANT as the strongest international model for community complementary feeding intervention implementation.
Based on over 15 years of research, INFANT aims to help mums, dads, and carers increase healthy eating and reduce screen time for infants from birth to 18 months of age.
INFANT provides four group sessions at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age which are facilitated by an INFANT trained health or early years professional. The sessions are supported by resources and a mobile app (My Baby Now).
The NCI reviewed all INFANT research including the randomised controlled trial of the program that took place across 14 council areas in Victoria, Australia and split mums, dads, and carers into two groups: intervention (INFANT) and control (usual care).
Whilst both groups received typical care from maternal and child health nurses, only the intervention group attended additional INFANT sessions led by INFANT facilitators and received supporting INFANT materials relating to healthy eating and active play.
The study showed that parents of children attending the INFANT program had higher diet quality (e.g., more fruit and vegetable consumption), watched less television at the conclusion of the program and had lower sweet snack consumption at 2 years and 3.5 years.
Overall, the NCI review endorses INFANT as not only an effective program for giving children a healthy start to life, but also a program that has the support and resources for practitioners and policy makers to make it implementable in real world practice.