Since the baby began to add supplementary food, parents began to struggle with how to prepare food for the baby. Some parents think that the child’s diet should also be [interesting], so that the child will like to eat. Especially as the child grows up, the mouth becomes more picky, and the diet does not have some [salt, sugar, sauce and vinegar], isn’t it monotonous?
However, children’s taste is developing, and it is inappropriate to prepare food for children according to adults’ tastes. So, how should children choose condiments in their meals?
Salt
Many of the older generation believed that children would be boring and unstable if they did not eat salt. Indeed, in ancient times, salt was controlled by the government. If the sale of private salt was found, it would be a capital crime. Ordinary people’s consumption of salt is a luxury, and long-term non-consumption of salt would be really boring.
However, times have changed, and now there is no family that cannot afford salt. According to the latest survey, the average person in China consumes more than 10 g of salt per day, which is seriously over the standard compared with the 6 g daily salt limit recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society, but the idea of “not eating salt is boring” is still deeply rooted.
Moreover, it is precisely because of the high intake of salt that the incidence of hypertension among adults in our country is also very high. To control and reduce the salt intake of adults, it is necessary to control it from infancy, and the earlier the effect, the better.
Infants aged 0-1
According to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, infants under 1 year old do not need extra salt.
Some people will ask: How can children do it without salt? As we all know, the main component of salt is sodium chloride, and according to < < Chinese residents’ dietary nutrient reference intake (2013 edition) > >, infants need 350 mg of sodium every day from June to December. Milk and other supplementary foods contain the sodium needed by infants. Under normal circumstances, babies who eat normally can take in enough sodium to meet their physiological needs without extra salt.
However, some parents have to ask, is it because it is not delicious without salt that my baby does not like supplementary foods?
In fact, the baby’s taste is more sensitive than adults, can’t use adults’ taste to measure children’s taste, adults think tasteless food baby can also eat with relish. Moreover, the baby’s taste habits are developing, sensitive to condiment stimulation, salt is easy to cause the baby to refuse tasteless original food.
Children aged 1 ~ 3 years old
Children aged 1-3 need 700 mg sodium (equivalent to 1.8 g salt) every day, 350 mg more than infants aged 6-12. However, under normal circumstances, sufficient sodium can be obtained from food, such as milk, staple food, meat, green leafy vegetables, fruits, etc.
Therefore, the “Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents” suggest that children’s dietary taste should be light and not too salty. This will enable babies to better appreciate the taste of natural food and reduce the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in the future.
For many families, children have already eaten with adults after the age of 1, even without considering the taste of children. However, children aged 1-3 still eat as little salt as possible, so that the baby can form a good habit of light diet. < < Guide > > also suggests that if conditions permit, children’s meals should be specially made separately.
Children over 4 years old
Children aged 4-6 need about 900 mg of sodium (equivalent to 2.3 g of salt) every day. Apart from the sodium contained in food itself, there is not much sodium that needs to be obtained through salt. 1-2 g of salt per day is enough. For children over 6 years old, the amount of salt per day is best controlled at 3-5 g.
It should be noted that in addition to the salt we add when cooking, many packaged foods and processed meat contain very high sodium salt content. For example, potato chips, bacon, ham, meat floss and so on are snacks that parents love to buy for their children. However, for the sake of their children’s future health, they should still give them as little as possible.
Sugar
When it comes to sugar, many parents may be worried that their children will suffer from tooth decay if they eat too much sugar. Although tooth decay is not only related to eating sugar, eating sugar is indeed one of the influencing factors.
The prevalence rate of dental caries among children in China is relatively high. According to the results of the Third National Oral Health Epidemiological Survey in 2005, the prevalence rate of deciduous dental caries among 5-year-old children is 66%, with an average of 3.5 dental caries. The prevalence rate of dental caries in children over 12 years old was 28.9%.
Moreover, the impact of sugar on children’s health goes far beyond dental caries. Giving children too much sweet food will make children develop sweet taste, which not only easily leads to dental caries and childhood obesity, but also may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, osteoporosis and other diseases in adulthood.
Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that people limit the intake of free sugar for life. Both adults and children suggest that the intake of free sugar should be reduced to less than 10% of the total energy intake per day, and it is best to further control it to less than 5%.
By WHO, these free sugars refer to monosaccharides (glucose) and disaccharides (sucrose and fructose) added to food by producers, cooks or consumers, as well as sugars in honey, syrup, fruit juice and concentrated fruit juice. Free sugars are different from naturally occurring sugars in fresh fruits, and do not include lactose in milk and starch in cereal and potato foods.
How much free sugar is appropriate for the child to eat every day?
If children consume about 1,000 kilocalories of energy per day, according to WHO’s recommendation, the amount of free sugar should be controlled below 10%, that is, below 25 g. If these sugars are to be limited to half, it is only 12.5 g.
The limit of 25 g seems loose, but in fact many parents like to give their children children’s drinks. A bottle of 200 mL contains about 20 g of added sugar, while a cup of 200 mL commercial fruit juice contains more than 30 g of sugar.
Therefore, for the sake of children’s health, try to give children fruits and eat less sugar. It should be noted that honey is also in the category of [free sugar] recommended by WHO, and needs to be restricted just like sucrose.
Moreover, when adding supplementary foods to your baby during infancy, it is recommended to try fruit puree directly instead of fruit juice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 6 months old should not drink fruit juice, while Australian infant feeding recommends that infants under 1 year old should not drink fruit juice, and diluted fruit juice should be restricted after 1 year old.
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is also a common condiment for parents. At present, there is [children’s soy sauce] in the market. Some parents will ask: Is this different from ordinary soy sauce? Can children eat?
In fact, from the nutrition label, there is no obvious difference between children’s soy sauce and ordinary soy sauce, just a booing head for merchants. Soy sauce contains more sodium salt, usually every 5 mL soy sauce contains 1 g salt.
Therefore, children under the age of 1 cannot eat soy sauce. Children after the age of 1 also need a light diet and eat less soy sauce. If you choose soy sauce, you should add less salt or use soy sauce instead of salt to cook or stew.
Vinegar
Vinegar is generally fermented. Legend has it that in the process of brewing wine, vinegar was finally brewed due to lack of assurance. From then on, many regions fell in love with jealousy.
The sour taste of vinegar mainly comes from acetic acid, but vinegar also contains a certain amount of salt. For children under the age of 1, it is best to eat original food, generally do not need to be jealous. Specific how old the child began to be jealous, there is no standard, personal think parents can let the baby after the age of 2 a small amount of jealous, but should not eat too sour.
Monosodium glutamate and chicken essence
Monosodium glutamate, the main ingredient is sodium glutamate, can really make food more delicious, is also an important condiment for delicious food. But it also contains sodium. Therefore, it is not recommended to eat monosodium glutamate for infants. Children after the age of 1 can decide whether to choose monosodium glutamate according to their family cooking habits. However, it should be reminded that if monosodium glutamate is added, less salt should be added.
Chicken essence is a compound seasoning, but the main ingredient is monosodium glutamate, as well as starch, flavoring nucleotides, sugar and other spices. Chicken powder or other meat extracts are also added to high-quality chicken essence. Chicken essence has more delicate flavor than monosodium glutamate, but while enjoying the delicious taste it brings, we should also remember that it also contains a lot of sodium and should not be eaten by infants.
Responsible Editor: Fu Ting