Ideas for quick buys, easy makes and simple recipes
• The great untold health scandal of our time: the trouble with babies and UPF food
It can feel exhausting keeping up with a baby or toddler’s seemingly endless need for snacks. The trouble with packaged varieties – even the products like apple crisps that promise to be purer than pure – is they are teaching your baby that food comes from a rustly packet with a cute logo on the front. It’s a training in eating crisps (something most of us don’t need much encouragement to do). The glorious thing about choosing a baby’s snacks (from six months on) is that they don’t yet have any concept of what is considered normal. A six-month-old doesn’t know many British people would consider it weird to snack on a stalk of steamed broccoli or a finger of plain tofu or a cold homemade fishcake, any of which would make an excellent baby snack. A baby can eat almost any food you eat, so long as the texture is right and it isn’t high in salt. From nine months on, do as Japanese parents do and pack a pair of baby food scissors in your bag so you can cut your food – plain pasta, noodles and so on – into baby-sized pieces (six-month-olds are better off with bigger chunks of soft or crunchy food).
Anything, no matter how bitter or sour or bland, can start to taste good if you have enough positive memories of being fed it by a beloved parent. Not that it’s always easy to get there, either for the parent or the child. Picky eating is a real thing and it has a strong genetic component. If you think your child is a selective eater, seek help from a qualified dietitian and be very kind to yourself as you wait for mealtimes and snacktimes to get happier.
Continue reading… Ideas for quick buys, easy makes and simple recipes• The great untold health scandal of our time: the trouble with babies and UPF foodIt can feel exhausting keeping up with a baby or toddler’s seemingly endless need for snacks. The trouble with packaged varieties – even the products like apple crisps that promise to be purer than pure – is they are teaching your baby that food comes from a rustly packet with a cute logo on the front. It’s a training in eating crisps (something most of us don’t need much encouragement to do). The glorious thing about choosing a baby’s snacks (from six months on) is that they don’t yet have any concept of what is considered normal. A six-month-old doesn’t know many British people would consider it weird to snack on a stalk of steamed broccoli or a finger of plain tofu or a cold homemade fishcake, any of which would make an excellent baby snack. A baby can eat almost any food you eat, so long as the texture is right and it isn’t high in salt. From nine months on, do as Japanese parents do and pack a pair of baby food scissors in your bag so you can cut your food – plain pasta, noodles and so on – into baby-sized pieces (six-month-olds are better off with bigger chunks of soft or crunchy food).Anything, no matter how bitter or sour or bland, can start to taste good if you have enough positive memories of being fed it by a beloved parent. Not that it’s always easy to get there, either for the parent or the child. Picky eating is a real thing and it has a strong genetic component. If you think your child is a selective eater, seek help from a qualified dietitian and be very kind to yourself as you wait for mealtimes and snacktimes to get happier. Continue reading… Children’s health, Children, Nutrition, Food, Snacks