INFANT

Healthy eating and active play

Supporting families from the start of life

Resources for parents

What is INFANT?

INFANT is designed to help parents and families with healthy eating and active play from the start of their baby’s life. INFANT consists of four face-to face group sessions for parents/caregivers led by a nurse or other practitioner, with content reinforced via a mobile app. It is designed to promote healthy eating, increase active play and reduce screen time for infants from birth until 2 years of age.

A guiding principle of INFANT is that parents are provided with information before it is needed – this is referred to as anticipatory guidance. INFANT also provides an opportunity for parents to support each other’s learning through shared experiences, tips and strategies.

The four face-to-face group sessions run for around 90 minutes and are delivered when infants are 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.  INFANT sessions are delivered by staff such as Maternal and Child Health Nurses, Dietitians, and Health Promotion Officers who have received INFANT facilitator training. INFANT facilitators provide contemporary, evidence-informed information that is tailored to the parents/carers who attend their groups, while also promoting group dynamics and sharing of ideas.  

The My Baby Now app and website is the result of 5 years of research with parents and health professionals. My Baby Now complements the face-to-face group sessions and extends support for parents from their baby’s birth and into the toddler years. It includes reinforcing messages for parents, personalised just for them and their baby’s age and stage of development. It also provides opportunities for INFANT facilitators to tailor content delivery and link parents to content outside of the face-to-face sessions.

All the information has been developed and reviewed by experts including Maternal and Child Health Nurses, dietitians and health behaviour specialists. The sessions align with Victoria’s universal Key age and stage visits and all messages are consistent with national dietary and physical activity guidelines.

Getting started with INFANT

INFANT has structured content and resources to guide facilitators but there is flexibility with how INFANT is embedded into services, who facilitates it, where it is held and how long it takes to establish. 

Learn more

Why INFANT?

Promoting healthy lifestyle habits early in life is important for optimal growth and development as well as the prevention of chronic diseases later in life.

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Health trajectories for the whole of our lives are established in the first 1000 days of life. It makes good sense to ensure the best trajectories for all children.

New parents are responsive to parenting information and support that helps them to promote healthy eating, active play and in turn, healthy development of their child

The main influences on infant’s and children’s health behaviours in their first year of life are the family, home environment, and health services.

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Offering INFANT as routine practice within local health services maximises the opportunity to support families at this critical time of their infant’s life.

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The benefits of INFANT

INFANT is based on more than 10 years of research undertaken within the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University. In 2008, INFANT was delivered as a research trial with 540 families across 14 Victorian local government areas. INFANT uptake was high and had significant effects for families taking part.

INFANT helps children
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Reduce sedentary time (children watched 25% less television)
Campbell KJ, Lioret S, McNaughton SA, et al. A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2013;131(4):652–660.
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Mothers consistently reported high levels of program usefulness and relevance
Campbell KJ, Lioret S, McNaughton SA, et al. A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2013;131(4):652–660.
See all | Cross ref
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Improve diet (children consumed 25% fewer sweet snacks and had improved dietary quality)
Spence AC, McNaughton SA, Lioret S, Hesketh KD, Crawford DA, Campbell KJ. A health promotion intervention can affect diet quality in early childhood. J Nutr. 2013;143(10):1672–8.
See all | Cross ref
INFANT helps parents
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Improve dietary patterns of mothers
Lioret S, Campbell KJ, Crawford D, Spence AC, Hesketh K, McNaughton SA. A parent focused child obesity prevention intervention improves some mother obesity risk behaviors: The Melbourne infant program. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2012;9:100.
See all | Cross ref
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Improve mothers’ knowledge and self-efficacy
Spence AC, Campbell KJ, Crawford DA, McNaughton SA, Hesketh KD. Mediators of improved child diet quality following a health promotion intervention: The Melbourne InFANT Program. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2014;11:137.
See all | Cross ref
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Improve infant feeding practises Spence AC, McNaughton SA, Lioret S, Hesketh KD, Crawford DA, Campbell KJ. A health promotion intervention can affect diet quality in early childhood. J Nutr. 2013;143(10):1672–8. See all
| Cross ref
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Connect with other parents and services locally

INFANT is engaging
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Mothers consistently reported high levels of program usefulness and relevance Campbell KJ, Lioret S, McNaughton SA, et al. A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2013;131(4):652–660
See all Cross ref
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68% of participants attended the majority (4 or more) of intervention sessions
Campbell KJ, Lioret S, McNaughton SA, et al. A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2013;131(4):652–660.
See all | Cross ref
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Parents often found the group sessions important for support and social connections
Love P, Laws R, Litterbach E, Campbell KJ.Factors Influencing Parental Engagement in an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Program Implemented at Scale: The Infant Program. Nutrients. 2018;10(4)
See all | Cross ref
INFANT enhances service delivery
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Increased health professionals’ confidence to integrate healthy eating and active play messages into routine consultations with parents

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Reduced the need for additional consultation with parents to address food-related issues e.g. introducing solids, fussy eating

Contact us

Interested in integrating INFANT into your community health offerings?

Please email us at
infant-study@deakin.edu.au

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