A review of Annabel Karmel’s “SuperFoods for Babies
and Children”.
And what better way to start than with babies.
As Karmel says, “What we feed our children today will determine their
future tomorrow”. So with that in mind I flipped through the glossy
pages to get some ideas.
You can see why she has been so
successful – a plate of food is turned into a rainbow palette of
tastes and textures. Focusing on colour is a simple way to ensure your
children eat a variety of superfoods that are very nutritious. Many of
you will be familiar with Karmel’s great meal planners and tempting
recipes and in this book she covers organic food, genetic modification
and convenience foods to stock in your kitchen.
However one of the biggest traps
parents can find themselves in when they pick up this appealing book
is rushing infants into new foods too quickly. It is hard not to
compare your little angel with the one next door and think you should
be giving him baby yoghurts or tiny pasta at 6 months. The World
Health Organization and the American Academy of Paediatrics recommend
that babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice, water or other
foods) for the first 6 months of life. Ounce for ounce, breastmilk has
more calories and significantly more nutrients than any type of solid
food including formula that you can feed your baby.
Starting solids before a baby is
ready can actually cause long term health problems in the form of food
allergies, respiratory and digestive problems. A baby’s digestive
tract does not fully mature until 5-6 months. Breast feed babies have
the advantage of receiving immune factors from their mum’s milk that
protect the lining of the gut and prevent foreign proteins from
entering the baby’s system causing allergic reactions. In addition,
enzymes and digestive juices do not reach adequate levels for complete
digestion of food well into 6 months of age.
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One of the reasons given for
starting solids early is the lack of iron in breastmilk. Although the
amount of iron in breastmilk is small it is readily absorbed at a rate
of 49% compared with 10 % of the iron in formula. In fact, excess
undigested iron can promote the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut.
Babies who start early on solids “because they seem hungry” actually
modify their energy intake so that it remains the same but take less
breastmilk which is nutrient dense, filling and full of growth
factors.
The recommendation is to watch
your baby not the calendar and introduce solids when your baby is
receptive and developmentally ready. When I looked at the 6-9 month
section in “Superfoods”, Karmel suggests introducing wheat in
the form of pasta and milk on cereal into a babies diet. I believe
this is too early and suggest introducing yoghurt after 9 months and
milk after one year and even later if there is a family history of
cow’s milk intolerance. Wheat in the form of bread, pasta and biscuits
can be introduced after 10 months. Why not try millet another grain
that is nutritious but hypoallergenic and combines well with fruits,
and rice pasta when babies can begin finger foods as alternatives to
wheat.
At 6 months babies have a high
demand for protein and iron so I would suggest trying lamb and turkey
as they are low-allergy protein and iron sources followed by chicken
and fish later. Baby can wait a year until they try eggs, seafood,
berry fruits and citrus fruits. A lot of babies are slow to take
solids and this “slowness” may be their body’s way of protecting them
until their digestive system is more ready to accept new foods.
There are so many myths about
feeding babies but the fact remains that breast milk should be the
primary source of nutrition for the first 12 months. Solids are only
meant to complement breast milk and allow your baby to experience new
tastes and textures that will make them more receptive to food later.
Babies have their whole lives ahead of them to eat peas and potatoes,
why rush them into it? I hope that the next Annabel Karmel cookbook
will reflect this new thinking about feeding babies including an
updated section on allergy and continue to give us wonderful ideas to
tempt our children to the dinner table.
“SuperFoods for Babies and
Children” by Annabel Karmel is available
from Magrudy’s bookstores.
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