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This is a posting with an article on bland baby food from the Ballard Moms listserve that I thought would interest everyone…I’ve tried mild curry and even turkey chili with Karina. She wasn’t too keen on the curry, but LOVED the chili. Thanks for the article Sheri!

“I came across this article this morning, and thought it might be of
interest to some folks. It’s an article from the AP from a couple of
years ago about how the western culture has trained its babies to have
bland palate, but that is a recent development and not universal.

Sheri, mom of 2″

HEALTH LIBRARY

(AP) — Ditch the rice cereal and mashed peas, and make way for
enchiladas, curry and even — gasp! — hot peppers.

It’s time to discard everything you think you know about feeding
babies. It turns out most advice parents get about weaning infants
onto solid foods — even from pediatricians — is more myth than
science.

That’s right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut
butter doesn’t have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering
fruits before vegetables won’t breed a sweet tooth. And strong
spices? Bring ’em on.

“There’s a bunch of mythology out there about this,” says Dr. David
Bergman, a Stanford University pediatrics professor. “There’s not
much evidence to support any particular way of doing things.”

Word of that has been slow to reach parents and the stacks of baby
books they rely on to navigate this often intimidating period of
their children’s lives. But that may be changing.

As research increasingly suggests a child’s first experiences with
food shape later eating habits, doctors say battling obesity and
improving the American diet may mean debunking the myths and
broadening babies’ palates.

It’s easier — and harder — than it sounds. Easier because experts
say 6-month-olds can eat many of the same things their parents do.
Harder because it’s tough to find detailed guidance for nervous parents.

“Parents have lost touch with the notion that these charts are
guides, not rules,” says Rachel Brandeis, a spokeswoman for the
American Dietetic Association. “Babies start with a very clean palate
and it’s your job to mold it.”

It’s easy to mistake that for a regimented process. Most parents are
told to start rice cereal at 6 months, then slowly progress to simple
vegetables, mild fruits and finally pasta and meat.

Ethnic foods and spices are mostly ignored by the guidelines –
cinnamon and avocados are about as exotic as it gets — and parents
are warned off potential allergens such as nuts and seafood for at
least a year.

Yet experts say children over 6 months can handle most anything, with
a few caveats: Be cautious if you have a family history of allergies;
introduce one food at a time and watch for any problems; and make
sure the food isn’t a choking hazard.

Parents elsewhere in the world certainly take a more freewheeling
approach, often starting babies on heartier, more flavorful fare —
from meats in African countries to fish and radishes in Japan and
artichokes and tomatoes in France.

The difference is cultural, not scientific, says Dr. Jatinder Bhatia,
a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ nutrition committee
who says the American approach suffers from a Western bias that fails
to reflect the nation’s ethnic diversity.

Bhatia says he hopes his group soon will address not only that, but
also ways to better educate parents about which rules must be
followed and which ones are only suggestions.

Rayya Azarbeygui, a 35-year-old Lebanese immigrant living in New
York, isn’t waiting. After her son was born last year, she decided he
should eat the same foods she does — heavily seasoned Middle Eastern
dishes like hummus and baba ghanoush.

“My pediatrician thinks I’m completely crazy,” says Azarbeygui, whose
son is now 13 months old. “But you know, he sees my child thriving
and so says, ‘You know what, children in India eat like that. Why not
yours?”‘

How to introduce healthy children to solid food has rarely been
studied. Even the federal government has given it little attention;
dietary guidelines apply only to children 2 and older.

In a review of the research, Nancy Butte, a pediatrics professor at
Baylor College of Medicine, found that many strongly held assumptions
— such as the need to offer foods in a particular order or to delay
allergenic foods – have little scientific basis.

Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom,
it’s the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat — often one
of the last foods American parents introduce — would be a better
choice.

Grain cereals might be worst thing Dr. David Ludwig of Children’s
Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some
studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals
actually could be among the worst foods for infants.

“These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to
formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising
blood sugar and insulin levels” and could contribute to later health
problems, including obesity, he says.

The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem.
Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods
later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat
healthier.

Food allergy fears get some of the blame for the bland approach. For
decades doctors have said the best way to prevent allergies is to
limit infants to bland foods, avoiding seasonings, citrus, nuts and
certain seafood.

But Butte’s review found no evidence that children without family
histories of food allergies benefit from this. Others suspect
avoiding certain foods or eating bland diets actually could make
allergies more likely. Some exposure might be a good thing.

And bring on the spices. Science is catching up with the folklore
that babies in the womb and those who are breast-fed taste — and
develop a taste for — whatever Mom eats. So experts say if Mom
enjoys loads of oregano, baby might, too.

That’s been Maru Mondragon’s experience. The 40-year-old Mexican
indulged on spicy foods while pregnant with her youngest son, 21-
month-old Russell, but not while carrying his 3-year-old brother,
Christian.

Christian has a mild palate while his younger brother snacks on
jalapenos and demands hot salsa on everything.

“If it is really spicy, he cries, but still keeps eating it,” says
Mondragon, who moved to Denver four years ago.

That’s the sort of approach Bhatia says more parents should know
about. Parents should view this as a chance to encourage children to
embrace healthy eating habits and introduce them to their culture and
heritage.

“So you eat a lot of curry,” he says, “try junior on a mild curry.”

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The NY Times had a series of articles last week about cooking for kids. Here is the main article:

New York Times, September 15, 2008
6 Food Mistakes Parents Make
By TARA PARKER-POPE
HARRIET WOROBEY, a childhood nutrition instructor, knows firsthand that children can be picky eaters, but even she was surprised by a preschooler last year who ate a mostly chocolate diet.

“Chocolate milk, chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip pancakes — it was unbelievable,” said Ms. Worobey, director of the Rutgers University Nutritional Sciences Preschool in New Brunswick, N.J. “His mother just thought, ‘That’s what he wants, so that’s what I’m going to do.’ ”
While most parents haven’t resorted to the chocolate diet, they can relate to the daily challenge of finding foods that children will eat. Although obesity dominates the national discussion on childhood health, many parents are also worried that their child’s preferred diet of nuggets and noodles could lead to a nutritional deficit.

Fussiness about food is a normal part of a child’s development. Young children are naturally neophobic — they have a distrust of the new. Even the most determined parents can be cowed by a child’s resolve to eat nothing rather than try something new. As a result, parents often give in, deciding that a bowl of Cocoa Puffs or a Pop-Tart, while not ideal, must be better than no food at all.

“I think parents feel like it’s their job to just make their children eat something,” Ms. Worobey said. “But it’s really their job to serve a variety of healthy foods and get their children exposed to foods.”

A series of simple meal-time strategies can help even the pickiest eater learn to like a more varied diet. Here’s a look at six common mistakes parents make when feeding their children.
Sending children out of the kitchen With hot stoves, boiling water and sharp knives at hand, it is understandable that parents don’t want children in the kitchen when they’re making dinner. But studies suggest that involving children in meal preparation is an important first step in getting them to try new foods.

Researchers at Teachers College at Columbia University studied how cooking with a child affects the child’s eating habits. In one study, nearly 600 children from kindergarten to sixth grade took part in a nutrition curriculum intended to get them to eat more vegetables and whole grains. Some children, in addition to having lessons about healthful eating, took part in cooking workshops. The researchers found that children who had cooked their own foods were more likely to eat those foods in the cafeteria, and even ask for seconds, than children who had not had the cooking class.

When children are involved in meal preparation, “they come to at least try the food,” said Isobel Contento, professor of nutrition education at Teachers College and a co-author of the study. “Kids don’t usually like radishes, but we found that if kids cut up radishes and put them in the salad, they love the radishes.”

Pressuring them to take a bite Demanding that a child eat at least one bite of everything seems reasonable, but it’s likely to backfire.

Studies show that children react negatively when parents pressure them to eat foods, even if the pressure offers a reward. In one study at Pennsylvania State University, researchers asked children to eat vegetables and drink milk, offering them stickers and television time if they did. Later in the study, the children expressed dislike for the foods they had been rewarded for eating.

“Parents say things like ‘eat your vegetables and you can watch TV,’ but we know that kind of thing doesn’t work either,” said Leann L. Birch, director of Penn State’s childhood obesity research center and a co-author of the study. “In the short run, you might be able to coerce a child to eat, but in the long run, they will be less likely to eat those foods.”
The better approach is to put the food on the table and encourage a child to try it. But don’t complain if she refuses, and don’t offer praise if she tastes it. Just ask her if she wants some more or take seconds yourself, but try to stay neutral.

Keeping ‘good stuff’ out of reach Parents worry that children will binge on treats, so they often put them out of sight or on a high shelf. But a large body of research shows that if a parent restricts a food, children just want it more.

In another Penn State study, researchers experimented to determine whether forbidden foods were more desirable. Children were seated at tables and given unlimited access to plates of apple or peach cookie bars — two foods the youngsters had rated as “just O.K.” in earlier taste tests. With another group, some bars were served on plates, while some were placed in a clear cookie jar in the middle of the table. The children were told that after 10 minutes, they could snack on cookies from the jar.

The researchers found that restricting the cookies had a profound effect: consumption more than tripled compared with when the cookies were served on plates.

Other studies show that children whose food is highly restricted at home are far more likely to binge when they have access to forbidden foods.

The lesson for parents? Don’t bring foods that you feel the need to restrict into the house. Instead, buy healthful snacks and give children free access to the food cabinets.

Dieting in front of your children Kids are tuned into their parents’ eating preferences and are far more likely to try foods if they see their mother or father eating them. A Rutgers study of parent and child food preferences found that preschoolers tended to like or reject the same fruits and vegetables their parents liked or didn’t like. And other research has shown girls are more likely to be picky eaters if their mothers don’t like vegetables.

Given this powerful effect, parents who are trying to lose weight should be aware of how their dieting habits can influence a child’s perceptions about food and healthful eating. In one study of 5-year-old girls, one child noted that dieting involved drinking chocolate milkshakes — her mother was using Slim-Fast drinks. Another child said dieting meant “you fix food but you don’t eat it.”

A 2005 report in the journal Health Psychology found that mothers who were preoccupied with their weight and eating were more likely to restrict foods for their daughters or encourage them to lose weight. Daughters of dieters were also more likely to try diets as well. The problem is, restrictive diets don’t work for most people and often lead to binge eating and weight gain. By exposing young children to erratic dieting habits, parents may be putting them at risk for eating disorders or a lifetime of chronic dieting. “Most mothers don’t think their kids are soaking up this information, but they are,” Dr. Birch said. “They’re teaching it to their daughters even though it doesn’t work for them.”

Serving boring vegetables Calorie-counting parents often serve plain steamed vegetables, so it’s no wonder children are reluctant to eat them. Nutritionists say parents shouldn’t be afraid to dress up the vegetables. Adding a little butter, ranch dressing, cheese sauce or brown sugar to a vegetable dish can significantly improve its kid appeal. And adding a little fat to vegetables helps unlock their fat-soluble nutrients. The few extra calories you’re adding are a worthwhile tradeoff for the nutritional boost and the chance to introduce a child to a vegetable.

Giving up too soon Ms. Worobey said she has often heard parents say, “My kid would never eat that.” While it may be true right now, she noted that eating preferences often change. So parents should keep preparing a variety of healthful foods and putting them on the table, even if a child refuses to take a bite. In young children, it may take 10 or more attempts over several months to introduce a food.

Sibling dynamics and friendships can also change a child’s eating habits. Dr. Birch of Penn State noted that her first child was always willing to try new foods, but that her second child was not. “Part of it was just him defining his place in the family,” she said. By the age of 10 or 11, he didn’t want to be outdone by his sister and was far more willing to try new foods.

Susan B. Roberts, a Tufts University nutritionist and co-author of the book “Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health,” suggested a “rule of 15” — putting a food on the table at least 15 times to see if a child will accept it. Once a food is accepted, parents should use “food bridges,” finding similarly colored or flavored foods to expand the variety of foods a child will eat. If a child likes pumpkin pie, for instance, try mashed sweet potatoes and then mashed carrots. If a child loves corn, try mixing in a few peas or carrots. Even if a child picks them out, the exposure to the new food is what counts.

“As parents, you’re going to make decisions as to what you want to serve,” Ms. Worobey said. “But then you just have to relax and realize children are different from day to day.”

There are a few other articles and list of recipes on the site. Check out the NY Times for more info and the recipes. I will post more info as I test out some of the recipes. Send me an e-mail or post a comment if you try something out.

Coming soon…cook books for kids. Send me your favorites and I’ll add them to the list!