A reminder of the importance of starting children on solids at the right time

An Auckland University study of six-thousand babies has found 40 percent had started eating solid foods too early, while three percent had started too late.

Auckland University Nutrition Professor Dr Clare Wall says putting babies on to solids too soon, can be detrimental.

She says eating solids too early, can mean babies miss out on the nutrients in breast milk.

The generally accepted time to start a baby on solids is after six months.