Weaning – Claire Baseley

22nd August 2016

Published by claire at 22nd August 2016

What happened to the Childhood Obesity Strategy?

The recently published Government report on Childhood Obesity made for disappointing reading for most health campaigners with criticism being levelled at the reduction of a 50-page document to 10 pages of suggestions and proposals, issued in the parliamentary recess, in the middle of the Olympics, while ministers were away and therefore unable to discuss the content in parliament. Overall, there were numerous key omissions versus last year’s Public Health England recommendations, notably on supermarket price promotions and marketing but also in the area of early years’ nutrition. Why is this important? PHE’s evidence-based report showed that marketing, whether via TV, brand characters, advergames or product placement within the supermarket, can influence children’s food preferences in favour of less […]

28th October 2015

Published by Claire at 28th October 2015

Veg-first: A novel approach to weaning

Traditional weaning practice is to give babies bland or sweet foods for their first tastes. Using a vegetable first approach is a novel but evidence based way to help babies learn to love vegetables; a habit that lasts potentially for many years. Babies are born with few taste preferences but they do have a naturally sweet tooth. Breastmilk is sweet and so this is beneficial for the first months of life, where breastmilk (or infant formula) is the sole source of nutrition. However, once weaning starts, it’s apparent that sweet foods like fruits are much preferred and greater quantities are eaten compared with vegetables, particularly the more bitter, green varieties. These tastes, that are typically less sweet or even […]