Healthy Eating From the StartEstablishing a healthy foundation, early on, in a child’s development, may prevent illness and maintainwellness.“By exposing a child from very early in life, to a various range of food, will help the child make thosechoices later in life. So, it’s really important to establish those healthy eating habits from the beginning.”Mateo is a happy little 6-month-old. Mom, Nicole, a South Florida pediatric nurse and mother of two, startedboth her children exclusively on breast milk.“It’s just us time and you know…skin to skin and just snuggling and I love it.”“The other very nice thing beyond the tender moment with the baby will be that the child is benefited byingredients within the breast milk that prevent disease.”According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfeeding protects the child from: Obesity; Diabetes;Lymphoma and the development of certain allergies. Breastfeeding also decreases the risk for: diarrhea,respiratory tract infection, bacterial blood infection, ear infection, bacterial meningitis, and urinary tractinfection.Breastfeeding is a good place to start, and it’s recommended that mothers breastfeed their children for the firstyear of life. If you have any anxieties or concerns, talk to your pediatrician. At around six months, parents canstart to introduce complementary foods or solid foods to their children.“So, he’s here today for his 6-month checkup, right?”“Yes.”“Do you have any questions?”“I just started giving him the cereal, is it okay if I give him baby food now?”However, each child is different and physical growth, development, nutritional needs and feeding patterns mayvary. It’s important that families follow the child’s cues and always consult with the pediatrician.“What you’ll do is you give them a teaspoon of some squishy item – something soft, something thatthey can easily swallow if they have the ability. You’ll know if they’re ready because when you put thesolid, something soft into their mouth, like a little bit of rice cereal maybe they’ll swallow, or they’ll roll itout their mouth. If they roll it out their mouth, they’re not ready, you put the box of cereal back on theshelf and you wait for another week.”When introducing a solid food for the first time, remember start slowly. Don’t force food, as this is a newexperience for the baby.“I gave him avocado. And I put it in his mouth, and he just looked at me like I was insane, like ‘why didyou just give me that, that was horrible!’ and he spit it right back out.”Introduce one type of food at a time. Wait three to four days before introducing a different type of food. If thechild has an allergic reaction to a food, the pediatrician can identify which food the child is allergic to and likelyprevent further bad reactions.This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER50164C EN HealthyEatingFromTheStart.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 2Healthy Eating From the StartAisha is a happy, healthy, 2-year-old. But when her mother Denise first started to introduce solid foods to herdaughter, she noticed a serious problem.“She was about 9 months of age and not gaining quite at the right rate because she wasn’t gettingenough of other complementary foods in with the breastfeeding. And certainly, around the 12-monthage, she was beginning to drop off. And the amount she would take was much less than a child her ageshould take. So perhaps a teaspoon or two of something, that’s just not adequate for a child 12 monthsof age.”“There are critical periods in the development of the child so the nutrition at one point during infancycan have long-term impact on the development of the brain.”“14 point 6.”“Children who don’t eat enough can have a slowing down in their growth.”“We had to bring GI, the feeding specialists in on it at about 13-15 months of age. After about 6 monthsof mom working with the feeding team and all of a sudden it just sort of clicked.”“We finally got her on track where she’s eating, not as much as she should, but she’s eating now. Andshe loves fruits and vegetables.”Aisha’s case is rare but can happen. If you suspect your child isn’t getting enough food, call your pediatricianright away.This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER50164C EN HealthyEatingFromTheStart.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 2 of 2
