Baby

Teaching Baby to Eat Right, From the Start

By Dr. Christine Wood

Teaching your infant to eat baby food is a fun and significant developmental milestone, but helping your baby with the right food choices is equally important. These early lessons in infant feeding will lay the groundwork for nutritional choices later on as they transition to table foods.  With the epidemic of childhood obesity becoming a serious public health concern, teaching healthy eating habits at an early age is more critical than ever.  By applying simple nutritional principles to your baby’s diet, you can encourage your little ones do make the right choices.

Babies grow faster during the first two years than at any other time of their life. In fact, within the first four months of life, babies double their birth weight and triple it by the time they are a year old. It is vital to feed them nutritious meals to help them grow. But many parents aren’t sure about the best foods and ingredients for their little ones. I’ve found that the best approach is to take some of the common sense ways we know adults should eat, and apply them to infant nutrition.

Beginning each day with a healthy breakfast is a great place to start. In the morning, babies spend time exploring and learning, so they need a breakfast that will provide energy and a solid nutritional basis for the rest of the day.  Much like an adult’s diet, a baby’s breakfast should provide a healthy balance of carbohydrates from whole grains without added sugar. Infants can experience many of the same energy fluctuations as adults depending on what they eat. Understanding how carbohydrates affect a person’s glycemic index, or blood sugar level, makes choosing healthy breakfast foods for baby easier.

Carbohydrates are an important energy source, but not all carbohydrates provide long-lasting energy. Simple carbohydrates, like sugar and refined flours give baby a rush of energy that quickly disappears, just like if you were to eat a donut for breakfast. These simple carbohydrates are high glycemic index carbohydrates. 

Complex carbohydrates, like those in oats and oat bran, are good sources of soluble fiber and have a low glycemic index. Soluble fiber is slowly absorbed by your baby, enabling a steady supply of energy over a longer period of time, much like the effect that eating a bowl of oatmeal would have on you. There is a new line of baby foods from Beech-Nut called “Good Morning” that provides a healthy balance of soluble fiber without added sugar and makes choosing a healthy breakfast easier.

What babies eat for dinner is important for growth, because research has shown that children grow most when they are resting, particularly at night. Because they are growing quickly, babies need more protein per pound of body weight than adults to build muscles.  An evening meal should include sources of easily digestible proteins (such as turkey, chicken or whey protein) to be substantial and satisfying for your baby.

Digestive health is very important for adults and infants alike. Right now there is a trend in adult nutrition that has companies like Kraft, Yoplait, and others focusing on digestive health by introducing products that contain prebiotics, which help stimulate the growth of “good” bacteria in the digestive system and aid in regularity. Beech-Nut has also introduced a line of baby foods called “Good Evening,” which provides prebiotics and easily digestible proteins to support infant digestive health. 

        Parents must realize that what their baby eats not only plays a big role on their nutrition for the day, but could also influence their food choices in the future. According to the American Dietetic Association, most food preferences in children are set by the time they are 2 to 3 years of age.  It’s never too early to start teaching our children to eat right and help them make a smooth and nutritionally sound transition from baby food to table food and beyond.

Christine Wood, M.D., C.L.E.  is a practicing pediatrician and certified lactation educator. She is also author of “How to Get Kids to Eat Great & Love It” and contributing pediatric nutrition expert for Real Savvy Moms. She lives with her husband and son in Del Mar, California.