We appreciate the comments on our article published in the February issue of Archives.1 Our article may have led to misunderstandings as suggested by the letter published above. This letter also represents several common but unsubstantiated, and probably erroneous, beliefs regarding infant nutrition.
The primary goal of STRIP was to influence the type of fat ingested by the intervention children, not to reduce fat intake before 2 years of age. Later, the aim was to diminish the expected age-related increase in fat intake, but proper fat quality remained an important goal. The proposed intervention diet favored the use of skim milk, oils, and (soft) vegetable margarine instead of whole milk and butter. To replace the energy lost in this change, the parents were instructed to add daily 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil or soft margarine to the food of children younger than 2 years and to select lean