Do toddlers need cake as well as carrots?

[Maggy J]

A new survey shows some nurseries are giving children too much in the way of fruit and vegetables, and not enough starchy carbohydrates to meet their energy needs. Have healthy eating messages left us in a state of confusion about what children should be consuming?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8620231.stm

Maybe the government needs to make sure parents actually get the 'right' info.

[martyh]

wonder how much this study cost ,seems that every week there's a new "study" contradicting last weeks "study" by telling us what our grans and parents new anyway
unless a bit of consistency is reached in these "studies" people will turn off and not listen

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by martyh

wonder how much this study cost ,seems that every week there's a new "study" contradicting last weeks "study" by telling us what our grans and parents new anyway
unless a bit of consistency is reached in these "studies" people will turn off and not listen

I was told by my health visitor some 24 odd years ago not to give skimmed or semi skimmed milk to my toddler but to stick with whole milk.I also read in one of the various baby magazines of the time not to give her too much fibre in her diet.

The information has been around it just doesn't get passed on for some reason.The fact is babies and toddlers ONLY need a different food programme to older children and adults.

[idi banashapan]

if you listen to the baby/toddler diet info you hear these days, it's a wonder the human race ever got to today. if some of the ads to to be believed, kiddies have never eaten the right foods or drunk enough of the right milk. like the cow and gate (?) advert that tells you a baby needs something like 10 litres of cows milk a day. pretty sure I didn't drink that much as a baby! how about any of you? we all survived to adulthood ok.... it's all marketing ploys playing on every parents want to do what is best for their child. if the only source for this information is the TV, then the companies like C&G are laughing. they can pretty much say what they like and no one is really going to know the better...

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by idi banashapan

if you listen to the baby/toddler diet info you hear these days, it's a wonder the human race ever got to today. if some of the ads to to be believed, kiddies have never eaten the right foods or drunk enough of the right milk. like the cow and gate (?) advert that tells you a baby needs something like 10 litres of cows milk a day. pretty sure I didn't drink that much as a baby! how about any of you? we all survived to adulthood ok.... it's all marketing ploys playing on every parents want to do what is best for their child. if the only source for this information is the TV, then the companies like C&G are laughing. they can pretty much say what they like and no one is really going to know the better...

Like I said the info is available it just isn't passed onto new parents..Possibly there are not enough properly trained Health visitors anymore.

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Like I said the info is available it just isn't passed onto new parents..Possibly there are not enough properly trained Health visitors anymore.

or possibly the health visitors are themselves confused with contradictory evidence

[Maggy J]

Originally Posted by martyh

or possibly the health visitors are themselves confused with contradictory evidence

Maybe...but I suspect they aren't trained very well these days.

Also the Media aren't renowned for getting the correct end of the stick either.

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Maybe...but I suspect they aren't trained very well these days.

Also the Media aren't renowned for getting the correct end of the stick either.

that's a good point actually ,we hear of these reports through the likes of the sun ,mail ,sky news ect and they do tend to sensationalise the reports ,for example we all know that too much salt is bad for us but we do need some to live ,so any report that said as much would be reported as "scientist urges us to eat more salt " irresponsible reporting can be as much to blame as poor education imo

to much fruit is bad for the teeth because of the sugar

[ZrByte]

Originally Posted by idi banashapan

if you listen to the baby/toddler diet info you hear these days, it's a wonder the human race ever got to today. if some of the ads to to be believed, kiddies have never eaten the right foods or drunk enough of the right milk. like the cow and gate (?) advert that tells you a baby needs something like 10 litres of cows milk a day. pretty sure I didn't drink that much as a baby! how about any of you? we all survived to adulthood ok.... it's all marketing ploys playing on every parents want to do what is best for their child. if the only source for this information is the TV, then the companies like C&G are laughing. they can pretty much say what they like and no one is really going to know the better...

That advert says children would need to drink 10litres per day to get thier daily requirement of iron and then goes on to say in the small print that milk is not a good source of iron. Really gets me mad!

[heero_yuy]

I'd take anything a company claims with a very large dose of salt. (Low sodium of course)

Before all this "advice" was around I'm sure that toddlers etc just got smaller mashed versions of what adults were eating and baby's got mothers milk, the human race survived.

[idi banashapan]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I'd take anything a company claims with a very large dose of salt. (Low sodium of course)

Before all this "advice" was around I'm sure that toddlers etc just got smaller mashed versions of what adults were eating and baby's got mothers milk, the human race survived.

who'd have thought it - we ate REAL food??? someone needs to tell those marketing peoples! it's the future!!

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Maggy J

I was told by my health visitor some 24 odd years ago not to give skimmed or semi skimmed milk to my toddler but to stick with whole milk.I also read in one of the various baby magazines of the time not to give her too much fibre in her diet.

The information has been around it just doesn't get passed on for some reason.The fact is babies and toddlers ONLY need a different food programme to older children and adults.

I believe that is still the advice; it certainly was when Flyboy11 and Flyboy9 were little. As far as fibre goes, I think a quick look in a baby's nappy will tell you if they getting too much, or too little, fibre.

In respect of the OP, if a nursery is not providing a balanced enough diet, they are not very good nursery. When Flyboy11 was born and Mrs Flyboy was considering returning to work, we went around many prospective establishments and were aghast at some of their dietary policies. The guidelines actually promote a good balanced diet, but many nurseries ignore the guidelines and take what they read in the media as gospel, without actually checking first.

---------- Post added at 16:58 ---------- Previous post was at 16:56 ----------

Originally Posted by idi banashapan

if you listen to the baby/toddler diet info you hear these days, it's a wonder the human race ever got to today. if some of the ads to to be believed, kiddies have never eaten the right foods or drunk enough of the right milk. like the cow and gate (?) advert that tells you a baby needs something like 10 litres of cows milk a day. pretty sure I didn't drink that much as a baby! how about any of you? we all survived to adulthood ok.... it's all marketing ploys playing on every parents want to do what is best for their child. if the only source for this information is the TV, then the companies like C&G are laughing. they can pretty much say what they like and no one is really going to know the better...

But there is a clear need for such advice. Wasn't there programme on television last night (not sure if it was last night or not) about the condition of many children in the country, needing, what amounts to, unnecessary medical attention relating to their diets.

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

But there is a clear need for such advice. Wasn't there programme on television last night (not sure if it was last night or not) about the condition of many children in the country, needing, what amounts to, unnecessary medical attention relating to their diets.

Mrs D is watching that at the moment.

From what I have seen of it, the conditions suffered by some of the children appear - in my opinion - to be due, or at least partly due, to their parents.

One 5 year old boy was massively obese. His mother said it was genetic, not diet. But she seemed to constantly offer him food & stuff his face. Not all unhealthy food, as she gave him fruit & stuff too... but she gave him so much. He came from from school one day, with some chocolate cake (from a birthday party). He wanted it there & then, & she didn't want to make him feel left out, so she let him eat it (why not as a pudding?). After that, he had a bowl of cherries, some Weetabix with fruit, & then a massive (for a 5 year old) dinner. They also lived very near to his school, yet she took a wheelchair for him, in case he got tired walking to/from. Although from what I caught near the end, they had at least stopped using the wheelchair, & his weight had started to decrease, while tests showed no genetic factors.

Another kid had awful awful teeth. Who's responsible for feeding the girl sugary foods? Who's responsible for the girl's teeth brushing?

Another kid had glue ear. The doctors said it was because of the father smoking. The father was having none of it. "They say smoking causes all these different things, show me some proof" were his words, IIRC.

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Matt D

Mrs D is watching that at the moment.

From what I have seen of it, the conditions suffered by some of the children appear - in my opinion - to be due, or at least partly due, to their parents.

One 5 year old boy was massively obese. His mother said it was genetic, not diet. But she seemed to constantly offer him food & stuff his face. Not all unhealthy food, as she gave him fruit & stuff too... but she gave him so much. He came from from school one day, with some chocolate cake (from a birthday party). He wanted it there & then, & she didn't want to make him feel left out, so she let him eat it (why not as a pudding?). After that, he had a bowl of cherries, some Weetabix with fruit, & then a massive (for a 5 year old) dinner. They also lived very near to his school, yet she took a wheelchair for him, in case he got tired walking to/from. Although from what I caught near the end, they had at least stopped using the wheelchair, & his weight had started to decrease, while tests showed no genetic factors.

Another kid had awful awful teeth. Who's responsible for feeding the girl sugary foods? Who's responsible for the girl's teeth brushing?

Another kid had glue ear. The doctors said it was because of the father smoking. The father was having none of it. "They say smoking causes all these different things, show me some proof" were his words, IIRC.

And then we get, "well the human race has survived thus far, why do we need to be told how to feed/raise/care for/protect our kids?"