My baby reached the age of weaning, the family found that he could not hold his head firmly, so he forced him to eat more salt to "make sure" people, all weaning dishes added a little salt and fish sauce. Is this true, how should I feed my baby? (Quynh Trang, 35 years old, Thai Nguyen).
Answer
Children who are eating solid foods have immature kidneys, so their ability to excrete salt is poor. Seasoning with too much salt affects the child's kidney function, causing high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in the long run. Some studies show that children who eat too much salt (sodium) can have brain damage.
Eating salt also doesn't help children absorb calcium, build stronger bones or keep their heads steady. On the contrary, when there is an excess of sodium, the child's body loses its water balance, increasing the risk of excreting excess sodium in the urine, causing the baby to lack calcium and reduce height growth. In addition, eating salty makes the baby anorexic, more tired.
Besides, children at this age have very little need for salt, daily foods already contain the necessary amount of salt, for example milk, eggs, meat, fresh vegetables. Too little or too much salt (sodium) in the diet is bad for a child's health. Therefore, when preparing solid food for children under 1 year old, the family should not add salt.
Baby food should not have added salt. Image: Freepik
Families can refer to the table below for salt needs in children recommended by the Ministry of Health:
|
Age group |
Sodium (mg/day) |
Salt (g/day) |
|
0-5 months |
100 |
0,3 |
|
6-11 months |
600 |
1,5 |
|
1-2 years old |
<900 |
2,3 |
Baby food should be rich in nutrients for the baby's body to develop. Families should feed the baby from little to a lot, for example, the first 1-3 meals give him less food, gradually increase the amount to let the baby get used to the new food.
At first, when the baby learns to eat solid food, the family should give the baby easy-to-digest foods such as porridge, vegetables and fruits and vegetables. From 9-11 months, children need to eat all 4 groups including rice, meat, eggs, fish, shrimp, crab, and vegetables. From 1 year old and up, children can eat spices, but the amount of salt should not exceed 1g/day.
Families should train their baby to eat light food to ensure health in the future. When an adult tastes a baby's solid food and finds it to their own taste, it will be more salty than the child's, so season the food with bland or no salt. If you want the food to taste, the family can incorporate a bit of cheese.
On the contrary, the family should not give the child sweet porridge to avoid health effects; Avoid foods that are too hard, chewy or can cause choking or choking. When preparing weaning food, people should not use ordinary oil, should use vegetable oils specifically for children such as walnut oil, canola oil, olive oil... Children should eat together with the whole family to learn how to eat food. eat, pick up food, chew food thoroughly.
MSc.BS Nguyen Anh Duy Tung
Medical Information Center
Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City
