Objectives and Study: While breastfeeding practices and age at complementary feeding introduction are well-recognised features of infant feeding, introduction to food texture has received little attention. Yet, timely exposure to diverse food textures could relate to later development of eating skills for proper chewing of food pieces, eating behaviour patterns and ultimately healthy growth. Moreover, the muscles involved in chewing praxis are the same as those involved in language praxis. The present study investigates the effects of introduction of food pieces on the development of gross motor skills and language expression in early life. - Methods We used data from the ELFE study (Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance), the French nationwide birth cohort (n=18,329). Parents reported on their complementary feeding practices between 3- and 10-months post-partum through a questionnaire. In particular, the introduction of 26 foods or food groups was recorded every month. The introduction of food pieces was evaluated according to the repeated (more than once) offering of crushed fruits/vegetables or pieces of meat, whichever came first. Age at introduction of food pieces was categorised as follows: introduction of food pieces 1) before 8 months (early), 2) between 8 and 10 months (intermediate; reference), 3) after 10 months (late). At 1- and 3.5-year follow-ups, parents reported on several aspects of their offspring neurodevelopment using the French version of the Child Development Inventory (CDI). In this work, we focused on two subscales, gross motor and language expression, and expressed them as binary variables (developmental score <25th percentile defines the “lower group”). Multiple logistic regression models were used adjusting for relevant confounding factors (e.g. income, level of education and parental stimulation). - Results We analysed 7,525 and 6,724 children with data on both complementary feeding practices and neurodevelopment at 1- and 3.5-year follow-ups, respectively. The introduction of food pieces was associated with gross motor skills at 1 year of age: early introduction before 8 months was associated with a lower likelihood of being in the group “lower gross motor score” (OR=0.73, 95% CI 0.62, 0.86) and late introduction (after 10 months) with a higher likelihood (OR=1.37, 95% CI 1.19, 1.57), compared to introduction within the window between 8 and 10 months. These associations were not observed at 3.5 years. Associations with expressive language showed a similar pattern (lower likelihood of being in the group “lower expressive language score” among children introduced to food pieces early, OR=0.81, 95% CI 0.68, 0.95, and higher likelihood among those introduced to food pieces late, OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.21, 1.61), but these were also observed at 3.5 years old (OR=0.83, 95% CI 0.70,1.00, and OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.12,1.52). - Conclusion This study suggests a positive association between the timely introduction of textured food and child development, more specifically gross motor skills and expressive language. Further research is needed to clarify the direction of the effect. Causal explanations linking exposure to food pieces to language and motor skill development are plausible; yet a delayed introduction of food pieces in the diet of infants with slower development is also possible and should be accounted for...