Getting to YUM by Karen Le Billon

Author:Karen Le Billon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

The AAP guidelines are very cautious, particularly about vegetables. The first food the AAP mentions on its HealthyChild.org website is baby cereal. It does mention some vegetables (squash, peas, corn, carrots), but doesn’t provide a specific list (and doesn’t divide this list into age categories). When it provides a sample daily menu for an 8- to 12-month-old baby, it simply mentions “yellow or orange vegetables” and “green vegetables.” Not specific enough to be helpful, in my opinion. And what about red vegetables, or purple ones?

In short, the advice from French and American pediatricians is contradictory, and American pediatricians don’t agree with each other on the best approach to feeding babies. (The official AAP advice contradicts that of the FSP as well as Dr. Bhatia’s views, even though he is a member of the AAP committee on nutrition.) Confusing, I know. But comparing the two approaches suggests you can probably be more ambitious about food diversification than the American guidelines suggest. My recommendation: do your own research and talk to your health-care provider about what makes sense for your family. Your health-care provider will also be able to give you the most up-to-date advice on allergies and on foods that you should delay introducing, such as eggs, shellfish, unpasteurized honey, nuts, and citrus.

Whatever first foods you do serve to your baby, remember that it’s best to wait a day after introducing each one to see if there are any allergic reactions. On GettingToYum.com you’ll find sample food diversification menus for a 6-, 7-, and 8-month-old baby. By the time they’re 9 months old, babies should be able to start eating the purée recipes that begin on page. If you add those in progressively, your child will be eating a broad range of vegetables by the time they are 2 years old.

It’s worth noting that some researchers and pediatricians are increasingly questioning the North American approach to child feeding, particularly the emphasis on a limited variety of foods in the first year and the choice of processed white rice cereal as the first food for babies. Dr. David Ludwig, Director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at the Boston Children’s Hospital (one of the nation’s leading obesity research centers), argues that conventional white rice baby cereal—which has had most of the vitamins and nutrients removed through processing—is the nutritional equivalent of table sugar. He argues that such foods raise blood sugar and insulin levels without providing nutrients (apart from the added iron). In other words, rice cereal—our North American mainstay—might just be among the worst foods for infants.

How is it possible that something so nutritionally bankrupt became a cornerstone of our infant diet? It may be because some rice cereals are iron-fortified, and iron is one of the few widespread nutritional deficiencies in the United States. However, there are other ways to provide iron, notably through naturally iron-rich foods (like spinach), provided they are served with a little vitamin C (found in tomatoes, for example) to help with absorption.

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