1. Introduction
SECONDARY
Background: Optimal nutrition during early childhood, including dietary fibre intake, is important for children’s health and development. Knowledge of fibre intake and its determinants in early childhood is limited. We aimed to describe fibre intake and sources and to identify trajectories of fibre intake at age 9, 18, 42, and 60 months and its child and maternal determinants. Associations between fibre trajectory groups and BMI z-scores and child overweight status were also assessed. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Melbourne InFANT Program, trial registration: Current Controlled Trials (ISRCTN81847050). Group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify trajectories of fibre intake from ages 9 to 60 months (Optimal nutrition during early childhood is important for children’s growth, development, and future health [Dietary recommendations worldwide encourage the consumption of foods rich in fibre for all age groups. However, due to a lack of evidence, the fibre intake recommendation only provides Adequate Intake (AI). In Dietary Guidelines for Americans, AI for children aged 1–3 years is 19 g/day, and for children aged 2–3 and 4–8 years, the AI is 14 g/1000 kcal [It is of concern that inadequate fibre consumption is common among children worldwide [Dietary habits acquired early in life tend to extend into later life [