It is hard to imagine food for adults without added salt and sugar. What about baby food? Can a child under 3 years old eat salty and sweet foods? And will they not harm a small growing organism? Four mothers spoke about this diet.
First opinion: Salty and sweet food should be taught right away!
Elena, 27 years old, mother of Ilya (1 year 3 months)
Every mother must feel how to feed her baby, at what time and how. I added a little salt and sugar to each dish as soon as I introduced complementary foods. I believe that salt is needed to maintain the water-salt balance in the body. Well, there is no way without sugar!
Think for yourself, a child from birth drinks breast milk, which tastes sweet. Is it possible that after that he will eat fresh food?
From the age of 10 months, my Ilyusha already eats any dishes from the common table, sometimes I even add a little pepper. Here's what is included in our diet: borsch, kharcho, pilaf, buckwheat with meat and vegetables, pickle, dumplings, pancakes, pies, fried potatoes, stewed potatoes with meat, cheese, cookies, etc. It seems to me that if a child is limited in food from childhood, then when he grows up, on the contrary, he will pounce and begin to abuse junk food. Just do not immediately pounce on me with reproaches, because I am not talking about stuffing the kid with endless sweets and soda drinks. I just think it is complete nonsense - to stand all day in the kitchen and cook steamed turkey and broccoli cutlets.
Natalia, Olya's mother (1 year 11 months)
While still pregnant, I read a bunch of smart books and articles and decided for sure that I would not give my child salt and sugar. But in reality everything turned out to be much more complicated. My daughter refused to eat such food, she spat out any vegetable puree, both homemade and purchased from various companies. And when I was already completely desperate, I decided to try to salt the puree with sea salt, it was about 7 months. She ate it with pleasure! It was from that moment that I realized that there is no need to think that salt and sugar will harm your child, because today they are found everywhere - in children's yoghurts, canned meat purees, cookies. As soon as Olenka turned one year old, we completely transferred her to the common table. Of course, at this time, we had to slightly reduce salt and sugar in our dishes and refuse hot spices.
Now my daughter is almost two years old, and I can proudly say that she is growing up as a healthy child. We don't have caries and kidney problems too. By the way, she herself does not beg for sweets from us, but half a year ago she really fell in love with pickles :). If you really want to - then her body needs it ?!
As for sugar: many of my friends replace sugar with fructose, but I personally am not a supporter of this. I read a lot of information that fructose is a concentrated substance, which means that it contains more calories than regular sugar. And this can already provoke obesity. So it's better the old fashioned way - we were raised on salty soups and sweet cereals - and I will do the same, because we grew up alive and well!
Dr. Komarovsky: At what age can a child have sugar and salt?
Doctor Komarovsky tells at what age you can give sugar and salt to a child:
Another opinion: Salt and sugar should not be used in baby food!
Svetlana, mother of Vladislav (4 years old) and Arseny (1 years old)
I will never understand and will always condemn those mothers who at 3 months give their baby borscht, at 6 months - sausage and salted fish, and a year - chocolate stuffed with chemical additives, while they are glad that their child with such pleasure everything it eats! Of course, the above is an extreme, but I believe that a child under 3 years old, in principle, does not need salt and sugar.
Some people argue that it tastes better for a child, but dear parents, let's not forget that the taste buds and kidney capabilities of children cannot be compared with adults. In childhood, there is no need for salt and sugar!
Our family is a striking example of this. Nobody uses salt and sugar here. We prepare all dishes from fresh and natural products. For adults, we replace sugar with stevia, and salt with kelp powder, and use good spices from spices. By the way, healthy eating and exercise can work wonders! Often on the street, strangers mistake me for my children's elder sister.
Both of my sons have never tasted salty and sweet food in their lives, or ask for it. This is the main reason that I will never send my children to a state kindergarten with their kindergarten food.
Nadezhda, mother of Violetta (2 years 7 months)
My daughter has tried both salty and sweet food from our adult table several times, but usually I cook for her separately and only fresh dishes. A common table with us is immediately excluded, since our husband is Georgian and prefers spicy oriental cuisine with all sorts of spices, adjika and red pepper. And my daughter has atopic dermatitis, so I need to be very careful and careful in choosing food for her, since food with salt, sugar and spices immediately aggravates the disease. I want to start adding salt and sugar to my dishes only after 3 years.
It's not difficult for me to cook separately for a child. I try to prepare in advance more cutlets and meatballs from chicken, turkey and rabbit, freeze them, and then steam them in a steamer or slow cooker, add vegetables. All that remains is to boil rice, buckwheat, or cook broth with noodles, and this also does not require much time and effort. My daughter accepts such food well, except for the moments when her teeth are teething, so I believe that it is not necessary to deliberately improve the taste of food for the child with the help of salt and sugar.
- When can you start giving your child sweets?
- Children and sweets: how much, when, what
Professor of Pediatrics Sergei Niankovsky: salt and sugar in complementary foods. Do I need sugar and salt in the diet of a child under one year old?
Is sugar and salt necessary in the nutrition of a child under one year old? How does the use of sweetened or salted foods in a child's diet affect his health and development? The questions of salt and sugar in baby food are answered by Professor of Pediatrics Sergei Niankovsky:
