After having a baby, I realized that "eating" is really a broad and profound knowledge. Some feeding issues are even more confusing and I still haven't figured them out!
A mother came to me and asked me, my daughter is one and a half years old. She eats whatever she can. She is never picky about food. She eats more energetically than adults. She can finish a big bowl with a slurp. My weight has not changed for half a year and I am as thin as a "little monkey". What is going on?
After chatting with her mother in detail, it turned out that her daughter basically eats white porridge and white noodles. She seems to eat a lot, but the actual nutrition is only less than half a bowl of rice. Over time, the nutritional intake cannot meet the needs of growth and development, and the weight naturally increases. It cannot grow steadily.
So today, let Miss understand carefully explain "Why does the baby not gain weight even if it eats too much"?
It seems to eat a lot, but the intake is relatively low
When it comes to "low intake", many parents may refute: My baby eats well, every meal is He eats very well and is not picky about food. He can eat a big bowl in one meal.
But in fact, eating more does not mean eating well. Generally speaking, "low food intake" is divided into two types:
"Absolutely low food intake": The common manifestation is that the baby is picky about food, has poor appetite, and eats less, resulting in the baby not eating well and growing well. , in this case, parents only need to find a solution to the cause.
"Relatively low food intake": This is what parents are most likely to overlook. To put it simply, the baby seems to be eating a lot, but the actual amount or nutrition is not enough.
What we are going to talk about today is the latter type - a situation where you obviously eat a lot, but in fact your food intake is relatively low.
Eating too much does not necessarily mean you have enough nutrition. What is going on?
The key lies in these four words:
Nutrient density!
Nutrient density refers to the concentration of important nutrients in food based on unit calories.
In human terms: the same amount of food contains enough nutrients (such as protein, vitamins, minerals, etc.) that the baby needs to grow.
Miss Know often emphasizes that babies must pay attention to avoid "false thickness" in complementary foods.
What does it mean?
Take rice porridge and noodle soup, the most common complementary foods for babies, as examples:
A small handful of rice can make a large pot of porridge, and the longer the time, the more the porridge looks like. The more viscous it becomes. But if this small handful of rice is made into soft rice, it may not even amount to half a bowl.
In this way, the nutrition of the baby eating "a big bowl of thick porridge" is actually equivalent to eating less than half a bowl of rice. The same goes for noodle soup and rice oil.
The result of this is that although the baby seems to be full and stuffed at the time, in fact it is not nutritious at all. In the long run, the baby's growth and development will naturally be affected.
The baby’s stomach capacity is very small, so every bite of food eaten is precious. Don’t waste space to accommodate a lot of food with low nutritional density!
Those supplementary foods that appear to be very nutritious,
but are actually very low in nutrient density
If mothers don’t know which foods have high nutrient density and which foods have high nutrient density, Low, you can refer to the following formula:
Nutrient density of solid food > Liquid food
Nutrient density of complete food > Decomposed food
For example, common Among foods, the order of nutrient density is:
Rice > Porridge > Rice soup
Fruit > Fruit puree > Juice
Meat > Broth
Rice soup
Rice soup is regarded as the best complementary food by many older generations. If your baby is suffering from internal heat, indigestion, or anorexia, he must not miss rice soup.
However, rice soup is listed as one of the worst complementary foods for babies in the eyes of pediatricians!
The baby's complementary food must contain a variety of nutrients. However, rice soup is just a little starch and a lot of water. It not only cannot meet the baby's nutritional needs, but also easily creates a feeling of fullness and affects the amount of milk. Insufficient milk intake of the baby within one year of age will affect the baby's growth and development.
Home-ground rice noodles
In the same way, the main component of home-ground rice noodles is starch, and its nutritional density is very low.
But in the eyes of most mothers, the baby rice noodles available on the market are always inferior to those made by themselves. Because if you do it yourself and keep an eye on it, it is safer and more hygienic than doing it outside.
It is undeniable that the mother takes great pains to make rice noodles for the baby, and every bite is filled with deep maternal love. However, the love is so full that it overflows, but the nutrition is not enough!
Babies have a very small stomach capacity and can only take in a small amount of food every day. However, they are in a critical period of body and brain development and have very high nutritional needs! Therefore, good complementary foods must meet the requirements of "high nutrient density", especially iron. If the complementary foods your baby eats lack iron, your baby may develop iron deficiency anemia.
Therefore, for mothers to give up iron-fortified infant nutritional rice cereal for the so-called health and safety, it is really a waste of time.
Moreover, if you do not know the necessary disinfection measures, home-made rice noodles may not be cleaner than those sold outside.
Vegetable water
It is said that vegetables are nutritious and laxative. You should add some vegetable puree to your baby's complementary food. So, does drinking vegetable water have the same effect?
No! The nutrients of vegetable water and vegetable puree are vastly different.
Vegetable water is actually just water with a taste and no nutrients at all! Moreover, during the process of boiling vegetables, residual pesticides and oxalic acid on the vegetable leaves will dissolve in the water, which may harm the health of the baby.
In addition, vegetable water can easily occupy the baby's already small stomach, affecting the baby's milk volume or intake of other complementary foods.
Ps,
Vegetable soup with rice, to be honest, this way of eating is really delicious. I still eat it like this to this day, but this way of eating is also not good for the body. , especially if there are children at home, be sure not to feed them this way, because although the vegetable soup is delicious, it contains a lot of greasy food, which is a burden on the gastrointestinal tract. If you feed your children this way from an early age, it is likely to affect the child's health when they grow up. Bad gastrointestinal condition!
Bone Broth
Bone Broth said that he didn’t know he was so powerful!
In fact, bone broth contains very little calcium, and it is not easily absorbed by the body.
Not only is it not a calcium supplement, it is also not suitable for babies to eat. Bone soup generally contains a lot of fat. If the baby drinks too much, it can easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort or even diarrhea. Moreover, if the baby consumes so much fat, it is very easy for the baby to gain weight!
Obviously, giving your baby a big bowl of soup is not as practical as eating a few pieces of meat. And solid food can also train your baby's chewing ability.
Juice
No! Juice is also listed by doctors as one of the worst complementary foods.
After being squeezed, there are very few nutrients left in the juice and it cannot replace fruit at all. Moreover, fruit juice has a high sugar concentration. Regular consumption of it will make babies develop sweet eating habits, and may also cause obesity, dental caries and other problems.
If you want to supplement vitamin C, you have to feed fruits honestly. Cut the fruits into thin strips or grind them into puree to meet your baby's needs.
Note:
If your baby only eats chicken soup, vegetable soup, gruel and other low-calorie foods for a long time, these meals may not provide the energy needed for growth and development, resulting in The baby is underdeveloped and the more he eats, the thinner he becomes! But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat it at all.
Certain processed foods
When buying processed foods for your children, carefully read the "ingredients list" and "nutritional content" on the package. If there are a lot of chemicals in the ingredient list There are trans fats, sugars, oils and other ingredients in the additives and nutrition facts list, so be careful when purchasing.
Because these ingredients are added for the pursuit of taste, they are not low in calories but have very few nutrients. They cannot provide the nutrients needed for the baby's growth and may be harmful to the child's body.
These careful tips when cooking can instantly increase the nutritional density!
Knowing that the nutrient density of solid food is higher than that of liquid food is just a primer.
If you want your baby to get enough nutrients and eat well, mothers also need to learn to mix food correctly to accommodate the highest nutrients in the baby's limited stomach.
To put it bluntly, it is to ensure that every meal in the morning, lunch and dinner contains carbohydrates, protein and fat.
Carbohydrates can be obtained from rice, noodles, whole grains or root vegetables
High-quality protein and fat can be obtained from dairy products, red meats such as pork, beef, and mutton, fish, and poultry. It is obtained from white meats such as meat and shrimp and some shellfish
For example, when mothers make noodles for their children, they can add beef, carrots and tomatoes.
Noodles are a staple food, mainly providing carbohydrates
Beef is an animal food, providing high-quality protein and fat
Carrots and tomatoes are vegetables, providing vitamins, minerals Substances and dietary fiber
In addition, if mothers want to make steamed buns or bread for their babies, they can also add steamed and mashed carrots, purple potatoes, vegetables, etc. into the flour.
The various kinds of steamed buns and breads made in this way are not only attractive in color but also unique in taste, and are especially useful for babies who don’t like vegetables.
For another example, when making egg pancakes for children, you can also mix minced meat, minced vegetables, etc. into the batter, so that the nutrition of the egg pancakes will be more balanced.
In short, do not always feed your baby a single food, such as white rice, white steamed buns, plain noodles, etc.
After reading this article, if you still feed your baby white porridge every day, you may really wonder if you are a biological mother!
In fact, which parent is not worried about the baby’s growth and growth? Nutrient density may seem very mysterious, but in fact we use it constantly in our daily lives.
For example, the pot of assorted soup during the Chinese New Year includes meatballs, fishballs, egg dumplings, Chinese cabbage, shrimps, shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms... This traditional dish also reflects the need for high nutritional density. Pursue.
In fact, as long as mothers pay more attention and attentiveness to their daily lives, and skillfully integrate these tips into their daily lives, they can bring better and more nutritious combinations to their babies.
If you mix food with your children in this way, are you still worried that your children will "eat too much but not gain weight"?
Ps,
Recently, a mother asked: "Is it indigestion if my baby poops after eating?"
Miss Ding will give a unified answer here:
Indigestion can be accompanied by discomfort (even vomiting and abdominal pain) in addition to pulling out some undigested things.
If the baby is in good spirits, it is normal for the poop to be mixed with whole corn kernels, green bean kernels, carrot pieces, black fungus...
Of course, it is not just for babies to poop whatever they eat. Eat some enoki mushrooms and See you tomorrow!
You may also want to know:
How old can a baby eat meat? If you put it off any longer, nutrition won’t be able to keep up!
"The tip of a needle is against the awn of wheat", look at how I defeated my mother-in-law on the road of supplementary food!
Taking stock of the best complementary foods for babies, it ranks first!