HUNGRY JACK? EAT FRUIT AND VEGIES, NOT BURGERS
HE may be a hungry Jack, but unlike other local kids this Gold Coast bub won’t be dining on junk food any time soon.
Concerned dieticians claim some Gold Coast parents are weaning infants off milk and feeding them pureed burgers.
But Mermaid Waters mum Haley Hughes is determined her adorable 10month-old will get the best start in life by only eating pureed vegetables and fruit.
“I’m a big believer that our habits around food begin when we are kids,” Ms Hughes said.
“I want my two boys to develop a palette for healthy foods and drinks, rather than craving sugary junk foods.”
Jack’s older brother Harry, who is now three, only had his first piece of cake at a friend’s birthday party recently.
But the first solid foods some tots taste are hot chips and ice cream and babies, just weeks old, are drinking sweetened fruit juices from their bottles.
“I speak to child health nurses who report that some children are being fed pureed fast food burgers,” accredited dietitian Kate Di Prima said.
“Sometimes parents just want their kids to eat something, anything. Some need guidance as to what to feed a baby and when.”
Queensland Health recommends parents introduce nutritious solids gradually at six months. Boiled water that is left to cool can be given as a drink up until 12 months.
Aloysa Hourigan from Nutrition Australia Queensland says research has highlighted how experiences early on have long-term consequences for health and wellbeing later in life.
“It is not uncommon for parents to serve babies the same easy convenience foods as they are eating and are unaware that they are setting up taste preferences in the child – tastes for sugar and salt,” Ms Hourigan said. “We need a lot more awareness in the area of weaning.”