Pediatrician about complementary feeding, salt and weight gain. Is it possible to salt a child's food?

In the process of preparing food for complementary feeding of a baby, the question arises whether the baby can eat salt and whether it can be added to vegetable purees, soups, and so on. It may surprise you, but infants are absolutely indifferent to the salty taste. The receptors that are responsible for its recognition are still underdeveloped in children, so they do not need salt. Consequently, the absence of it in food will in no way spoil the dish for the baby. A child under one year old can have very little salt, daily norm should not exceed 0.3 grams. That’s exactly how much a baby’s kidneys can “process.” Breast milk contains sufficient quantity sodium, so you don’t have to worry about a lack of this trace element. And if the baby is on artificial feeding, you don’t have to worry either. Adapted high-quality mixtures contain the required amount of it. Therefore, children under one year old simply do not need additional salt; they can avoid it completely.

Having figured out whether salt is allowed for a child up to one year old, it is worth considering Special attention for the products you buy for your baby.

Be sure to read labels and look at the ingredients. Even in baby food it can sometimes be contained, which is undesirable at an early age.

Hard cheese, cookies, bread and many other foods contain a certain amount of salt. Therefore, their use by the child should be monitored. They can be offered, but limited.

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Spice sets and bouillon cubes contain a lot of salt. It is strictly forbidden to use them for preparing food for a child.

And if you give your baby food from a common table, be sure to make sure it is safe and ask how it was prepared.

Salt for children under one year old

After 9 months, use is already possible, but absolutely not necessary. It would be better to wait until a year or even longer.

From one to three years of age, children should receive no more than 2 grams of salt per day from food.

Excess salt leads to health problems in the child. The kidneys suffer, blood pressure rises, and so on.

All this can be prevented in advance, rather than throwing up your hands after problems have already been encountered.

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Salt is an essential element of any table. It gives food additional taste and helps to reveal it. But not all adult nutrition rules apply to children. How to season baby food and is it worth introducing your baby to unsalted foods?

Should I salt my child's food? If so, at what age can a child salt food? What to do if the baby is already accustomed to salted food and refuses to eat without salt? These questions concern many parents.

Points for and against

The importance of salt for human body undeniable. It is a kind of connecting link between many elements, without which normal operation organs and systems becomes impossible. A lack of sodium chloride can lead to quite severe consequences: convulsions, depression of consciousness, indigestion. Even coma and death are possible. But with normal nutrition, the occurrence of such a situation in healthy child almost impossible. Babies get everything necessary elements with mother's milk. Even if the baby is on artificial nutrition, adapted mixtures still contain the required amount of salt.

But an overdose is quite possible. Especially in young children whose excretory system not yet fully formed. The kidneys do not concentrate urine well enough. Excess salts are retained in the body. Regularly exceeding the recommended norm can result in problems with the kidneys, blood pressure, and musculoskeletal system. So you should think carefully about whether to salt your child’s food.

At what age can a child salt food?

And yet, many parents are hesitant to completely eliminate salt from their children’s diet. In this case, you need to understand at what age you can add salt to your child’s food. After all, it is almost impossible to wean a child who is already accustomed to salted foods from them.

Pediatricians have not yet come to a common opinion regarding at what age a child can add salt to their food. A few decades ago, such a question did not arise in pediatrics at all, but now the vector is changing significantly. More and more scientists say that you should start adding salt to your food as late as possible. It's better not to do this at all.

Modern recommendations regarding whether to salt food for a child say the following: preferably no earlier than one and a half years. And there is certainly no need to offer salt to a baby for up to a year. While on breastfeeding, he gets everything he needs from mother's milk. There is no need to add salt to complementary foods. Most ready-made baby food already contains salt; it will only spoil homemade vegetable purees.

When can you add a little salt to your baby's food?

Sometimes a child outright refuses unsalted food. This happens especially often with meat dishes. Should I salt my child’s food in this case? Take your time. Try the alternatives first:

1. Mix up several dishes. Is your baby protesting against pureed meat? Add a couple of spoons of vegetable or fish to it. Perhaps he will like this combination;
2. Add a few drops of breast milk. The familiar taste will calm the baby and help him cope with a tasteless meal;
3. You shouldn’t rule out the possibility that the baby is capricious simply because he’s not hungry. Then it makes sense to continue after an hour and a half, when he gets hungry. Don't force feed your baby;
4. If one particular dish causes a violent reaction, it is better to avoid it. Not a single child has ever suffered from the fact that childhood passed without zucchini porridge;
5. You don't have to use salt to make food taste better. There are many different seasonings that do not put such a strain on the kidneys and do not retain fluid in the body. Cumin, basil, a pinch of turmeric will make the taste of food more interesting and richer. But not all seasonings are allowed for small children. It is better to consult your doctor about this;
6. And only if none of the above helps, and the baby still refuses to eat, you can add a couple of grains of salt. Do this in front of your baby. Put just a little bit. It is enough for him to simply see that the food has been salted and his attitude towards it will change.

What foods contain salt?

To maintain the correct salt regime, it is not enough to simply limit the use of salt in the kitchen. Many prepared foods from the supermarket contain a lot of sodium chloride. No culinary production is complete without active use salt and sugar. This primarily applies to the following names:

1. Bread and pastries. The taste of bread itself cannot be called salty. But in its production, salt is used literally in glasses. Do not overfeed your baby buns, especially dry ones;
2. Canned food. Salt is one of the most popular preservatives. So lovers of sardines, olives and canned tomatoes tend to greatly exceed the recommended amount;
3. Cheese and dairy products. They also contain a lot of sodium chloride. Although you can’t often tell by taste.

Do not add salt to your baby's food; if he does not try salty foods, he will not demand them. And you will save your baby from health problems and overweight, because some doctors believe that salt and these troubles are interrelated.

Many parents are tormented by the question: is salt and sugar allowed for a child?

Salt and sugar for baby

Flaws. Salt promotes fluid retention in the body, increases the load on the kidneys, and promotes early appearance taste preferences. Excess salt is harmful for children and adults. Therefore, it is not recommended to salt food prepared at home for a child under 1 year of age, and canned baby food should not contain salt.

Advantages. Salt does not cause allergies, because... is part of all cells of the body. Salt improves the taste of food.

Conclusion If a child eats unsalted food well, he does not need to be given salt until he is 1 year old, and the later he tries it, the better.

When is it okay to add a little salt to your child’s food?

But sometimes a child flatly refuses to eat unsalted food, but eats lightly salted food well. This does not mean that if a child doesn’t like it from the first spoon, for example, it needs to be salted urgently. First you need to offer it to your child several times, try to dilute the puree with a mixture familiar to him or breast milk, doesn’t want to offer potatoes from the zucchini and only after trying all the options to try adding some salt. If salt helps, you will have to feed the child lightly salted vegetable puree.

Example from life

Our youngest son never wanted to eat. I ate vegetables well without salt, but I ate no meat in any form.

When he tried to give any meat puree from a jar: he willingly swallowed the first spoon, and then winced terribly; he opened his mouth at the second spoon, but it caused a gag reflex in him, and if he managed to eat something before that, everything ended up on the floor. An attempt to mix meat and vegetable puree led to the same result. He simply did not eat any homemade unsalted meat or fish. I tried 1 spoon and then gave up.

But as soon as the meat was lightly salted, the child began to eat it willingly. Meat puree We never eat from jars. But boiled, lightly salted beef is our favorite dish, boiled fish in second place, and for some reason we don’t like chicken.

Sugar

Sugar is an easily digestible source of energy. None useful substances: It does not contain proteins, vitamins and microelements. Therefore, it is not useful for a child of the first year of life.

There is no allergy to sugar, because... it is not an antigen. But sugar enhances the processes of decay and fermentation in the intestines, as a result, the products of incomplete protein breakdown are absorbed into the blood and cause allergies. How younger child, so with more likely This chain is realized and the child will develop an allergic rash on the skin.

Conclusion: the later the child tries sugar, the better for him. Ready-made baby food products should not contain sugar; when preparing food for your child at home, it is better to do without sugar.

Parents are trying to use sugar to improve the taste of food by adding it to compote.

The approach to this issue is the same as with salt. First you need to try everything possible options: mix porridge or cottage cheese with fruit puree, try different types porridge, change kefir to biolact, etc.

If this doesn't help

• It is recommended to add not traditional sugar (sucrose) to baby food, but fructose - natural fruit sugar.
• The less sugar (any fructose or sucrose) is on the child’s menu, the better for him. With 1 teaspoon of sugar a day, your baby’s cheeks may not turn red, but if you like to add sugar to all the dishes you feed your baby, this will certainly happen.

Sugar is also added to improve the taste of medicines, i.e. If a child gets sick, the likelihood of an early introduction to sugar increases. But it is easier to give medicine to a child under 1 year of age than to an older one, so at this age you can do without sweet syrups.

Main conclusion: It is possible to give salt and sugar to a child under 1 year of age, but not necessary. The later the child learns their taste, the better.

And the answer to the question at the beginning: Is it possible for a child to have salt and sugar?

The later, the better for the child.

Salt
Properties of salt

• Does not cause allergies (because it is part of all cells of the body).
• Helps maintain water balance in the body, does not allow dehydration.
• Improves the taste of food.

• Retains fluid in the body.
• Increases the load on the kidneys.

When to introduce salt into a child's diet?
We are accustomed to thinking that salt is very important component any diet, so if it is not in the child’s diet, parents begin to worry.
However, it must be taken into account that in the diet of newborns and children up to the first year of life, the daily salt requirement is 0.3 g (after a year - 0.5 g), which he receives from mother's milk or infant formula. If, in addition to this, you want to enrich your baby’s diet with salt, then his kidneys and pancreas simply cannot cope with such a colossal load.
Also, one of the reasons for controversy on the topic of salt in baby food is the fear of parents that they are depriving their beloved child, depriving him of the things we are accustomed to. taste sensations when used of this product. In fact, there is no problem here: the receptors that perceive salt are not developed in the child from birth, so he does not understand whether his food is salty or not, and, accordingly, does not feel a shortage. But when you introduce your child to the taste of salt, these receptors will begin to develop and require salt in food in certain volumes. In this regard, most pediatricians strongly recommend avoiding salt until the child is at least one year old.
After this, parents need to adhere to the following dosage: no more than 0.25-0.35 g of salt (actually at the tip of a knife) per day, then you can increase to 0.5-1 g (up to 3 years) and gradually increase to adult dose 4-5 g of salt per day.

What salt should you give your child?
Buy regular table salt. If you live in central Russia, which is considered an iodine-deficient region, purchase iodized salt (keep in mind, its shelf life is only 3-4 months).
There is also hyposodium salt, in which the sodium content, compared to table salt, is significantly lower. As a rule, it is prescribed when hypertension, obesity and kidney disease. To determine the type of salt your child really needs, consult your doctor.
Attention! Sea salt It is not used in the nutrition of children under one year of age.

Useful tips for parents

• It is not advisable to salt foods by eye - this can lead to excess consumption. table salt. For example, 1 tsp. contains 10 g of salt (which is 2 times the adult daily value).
• Try to minimize your child's consumption following products containing salt: ketchup, mayonnaise, canned salty foods, salted fish, sausage, etc.
• Be careful with the fashionable salt-free diet: it is prescribed only in medicinal purposes and is carried out under the strict supervision of a pediatrician.

Sugar
Properties of sugar

• It is an easily digestible source of energy.
• Accelerates many vital important processes in organism.
• Promotes brain activity.
• It is an excellent preservative that stops the development of many harmful bacteria.

• It enhances the processes of putrefaction and fermentation in the intestines (which causes bloating), as a result of which the products of incomplete protein breakdown are absorbed into the blood and cause allergies.
• Is one of the main causes of obesity, diabetes mellitus and changes in the central nervous system.
• At excessive consumption leads to destruction of tooth enamel.
• Causes errors in proper nutrition: Sweetened foods give the illusion of satiety, which causes the child to eat less.
• It is addictive: the child experiences an emotional uplift from the glucose received, but when the blood sugar level drops, reaching normal, the baby begins to lack a feeling of joy, he begins to ask, and then demand, sweet food.

When to introduce sugar into a child's diet?
A child under 1 year of age needs only 4 g of sugar per day (this is slightly less than 1 tsp), therefore, if the baby does not have allergies, you can add sugar in the specified amount to sour fruit drinks. However, many pediatricians say that a child may not be introduced to the taste of sugar until he is one year old.
A child from 1.5 to 3 years old needs 6 g of sugar per day, and from 3 to 6 years old - 7 g.

Rules for introducing sweets into a child’s diet:

• From 1 year - sweet pastries and jam.
• From 1.5 years - marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade.
• From 2-3 years - caramel, toffee.
• From 3 years - ice cream (cream or milk).
• From 3-4 years - chocolate (20 g or one candy per day), cakes and pastries (with whipped cream or fruit filling).
• From 3-5 years - honey.
• From 5 years old - chocolate candies with filling.

Useful tips for parents

• You should not sweeten complementary foods: this can lead to the formation of bad eating habits. Pediatricians recommend starting the first complementary foods with vegetable purees, rather than with sweeter fruit ones.
• Doctors recommend adding not ordinary sugar (sucrose), but natural fruit sugar (fructose) to baby food. Natural springs glucose and fructose - vegetables and fruits.
• Do not give children candy for breakfast: in the morning, sweet cocoa or tea is enough for them. Pamper your baby with dessert during the afternoon snack, but at the same time control the portions of sweets.
• The following unhealthy sweet products are prohibited: sweet carbonated drinks, chewing gum, goods near the supermarket checkout, sweet chocolate substitute bars.

The salt we use in our diet or table salt (NaCl) emphasizes taste qualities products and dishes. But her role is not limited to this. First of all, salt is the main supplier of sodium, an essential substance for our body, because... V natural products sodium is contained in small quantities. The work of all cells without exception, the transmission of nerve impulses and muscle contraction depend on it. All liquids human body, including blood, contain sodium. It is involved in maintaining water balance in the body, regulates the flow of water into and out of the cell, and is necessary for the formation of hydrochloric acid gastric juice(together with chlorine).

Children's norms

A healthy body takes an active part in sodium metabolism. So, if there is a lack of salt in the body, you want something “salty.” Conversely, when there is a threat of excess sodium (for example, we overdid it with salty foods or dishes), we drink a lot, thus increasing the possibility of its excretion in the urine. Constant abuse of salt causes additional stress on the kidneys, can disrupt metabolism, and adversely affect work of cardio-vascular system. Children's body much more vulnerable than an adult. How smaller child, the more difficult it is for his body, due to the immature urinary system, to maintain the correct balance of minerals, especially to combat their excess. The load on the kidneys increases, the intensity increases metabolic processes. For this reason, children under one year of age should absolutely not add salt to their food. In addition, most specialized food products for children under one year are not salty at all, or contain salt in small quantities. At the same time, the baby is not deprived of an important nutritional ingredient; simply in order to meet his consumption norm, salt contained in natural products, such as vegetables and grains, is enough for him. Children from 0 to 10 months of age need 0.2 g of salt per day. At 10-12 months, the “rate” increases to 0.35 g per day. After a year, the need is already about 0.5 g of salt per day (i.e., an approximate calculation of the body’s need for salt looks like this: 0.5 g per 10 kg of weight). When a baby has crossed the one-year mark, this is not evidence of a qualitative transition to adult life, which also includes an adult eating stereotype. The baby’s body, of course, has become stronger by the age of one year, but still remains very susceptible to the effects of adverse factors. Therefore you should not one year old child"seat" at the adult table.

What if you don’t add enough salt?

The lack of salt in the diet is not often discussed, since such situations are rare in life or are created artificially. But if you sharply and for a long time limit the consumption of table salt, this will lead to a deterioration in overall health: the appearance of lethargy, drowsiness, fainting, convulsions, up to a serious disorder in vital health. important functions body. Despite all the caution regarding salt consumption, a growing body cannot do without this nutritional element. In addition, there is no convincing evidence that limiting (below the established norm) salt intake in childhood protects against the occurrence of diseases in mature age, for example from arterial hypertension(increased blood pressure). The task is not to “eliminate” salt from the diet, but to develop in the child right attitude to nutrition, in particular, do not accustom him to eating spicy and salty foods, do not add salt to dishes that were salted during the cooking process, etc. The salt intake rate for adults recommended by the World Health Organization is 4-5 g per day. Thus, during life, the body’s need for salt does not increase much, from 0.5 g per day in the first year of life to 5 g per day for adults. According to statistics, most people consume salt, which is called according to taste, about 10-15 g per day. It turns out three times more from required quantity. Try to develop in your baby healthy habit do not overuse salt. Don't forget that there are foods that contain too much salt, e.g. sausages, most types of cheese, condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup), not to mention pickles - in general, something that clearly does not apply to children's food. Salty fish and other similar products are not recommended for use in the diet of a child during the first 2-3 years of life. We have already talked about the dangers of excess salt consumption, but in addition, there is another aspect - hygienic. In most cases, salted fish is a perishable product with a short shelf life, so offering it to your baby is not always safe. Canned salty foods are also not acceptable for baby food. It is unlikely that anyone, having read the material, will weigh salt on a pharmacy scale. Yes, this is not required. To help you figure out how much salt to add, here’s a little hint: one teaspoon contains 10 g of salt, so count it. But remember that one third of the body's sodium needs are covered by the “natural” salt contained in foods. It turns out that at an early age (1-3 years), if you exclude the approximate content of “natural” salt from foods, then you need to add so little salt that a child’s dish tastes unsalted to an adult.

There are different salts...

IN last years Varieties of salt appeared on store shelves: with a reduced sodium content, i.e. hyposodium salt and iodized salt. In the first case, as the name suggests, the hyposodium salt has a reduced amount of sodium. It may be recommended for children with certain diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys, obesity or a tendency towards it. But only a doctor can recommend replacing regular salt in the diet with hyposodium salt, because It is not advisable to use salt with a reduced sodium content in the diet of a healthy child. Today we rarely do without salt home cooking. That is why experts have entrusted it with an important mission - making it an additional source of iodine for our body. Fine, daily requirement body infant in iodine is 0.04-0.05 mg, for adolescents and adults - up to 0.07-0.15 mg. In reality, the iodine content in the diet of the population of our country is 2-3 times lower than the recommended level. What is the threat of iodine deficiency to a child? Insufficient iodine intake in the body of a pregnant woman reduces the production of hormones thyroid gland both in her and subsequently in the baby, which can lead to diseases of the gland itself and other organs and systems of the body. In addition, iodine deficiency increases birth defects development in children, including, leads to such a serious pathology as congenital decrease in intelligence (cretinism), and also increases the incidence of children being born with low weight and insufficient height. Children with a lack of iodine in the body more often suffer from acute respiratory viral infections, lag behind their peers in cognitive activity (attention, reaction speed, fine motor skills suffer), and lag behind in learning. Effective way To prevent iodine deficiency, eating iodized salt is recognized throughout the world.

Spice aroma

Spices give dishes a unique taste and aroma. How should we treat them? Usually, spices are everything that is used to flavor, season and flavor food: dried seeds of cumin, coriander, cardamom, mustard, sesame, clove buds, pepper fruits, nutmeg, cinnamon bark and ginger roots, turmeric, galangal, horseradish, garlic, leaves of aromatic plants, vanilla pods, etc. This list is an insignificant part of one and a half hundred known to the world spices Some chefs also classify salt as a spice. All spices, to one degree or another, have a pronounced aroma and pungency. The methods of their use in nutrition depend on the traditions characteristic of a given area and even on the climate. As a rule, the warmer the region, the spicier and richer in spices the cuisine of the local peoples. Why did this happen? It is believed that spices can help withstand heat, protecting the body from overheating. Moreover, they are known bactericidal properties, they help preserve food and dishes longer, which is very important in warm climates. Adding spices requires culinary skill. For each seasoning there is a “favorite” product. Spices are designed to emphasize its taste, making it more subtle and refined. Wherein the nutritional value spices (i.e. healthy nutrients, with which they can provide us) is small.

Spices and baby food

It is known that despite their high taste, and sometimes medicinal properties, the attitude of specialists in the field of baby food towards spices is very restrained, especially when we're talking about about children early age. Why? There is always a special attitude towards children's nutrition. Doctors often talk about immaturity gastrointestinal tract child, which makes him especially vulnerable to all sorts of irritants, including spices containing aromatic acids, essential oils, tannins that make seasonings so interesting for cooking, giving them a special taste and aroma. Under their influence, the production of digestive juices, on which appetite largely depends, is enhanced. For the baby’s delicate gastrointestinal tract, such stimulation is undesirable. The irritating effect of spices can lead to the development of chronic inflammatory processes in him. In addition, it must be remembered that many spices are quite allergenic, and the number of children prone to allergic reactions great. Domestic experts recommend considering balanced diet, both for children and adults from the perspective of the habits and traditions of a particular country. Thus, in Russian cuisine, spices and spicy dishes for cooking, which they are necessary for, are used little, so there is no need to introduce spices into the diet small child. Apart from the negative effect, medical practitioners have no positive results such actions are not noted. Unlike salt, spices are a completely optional element of our diet; their use can be easily abandoned. Taking into account all of the above, recommendations for the use of spices in the diet of a young child are as follows:

• onions and garlic in small quantities can be used in cooking, no earlier than 8 months (add to soups, vegetable and meat dishes. Do not use them raw under any circumstances!).
• From 9 months, spices can be added to dishes: white pepper, Bay leaf and herbs - celery, dill. Other herbs (rosemary, basil) are allowed to be included in the diet no earlier than 1.5-2 years.
• Vanilla can be used in preparing dishes for a child starting from 9 months (for example, in porridges, puddings, casseroles).

It should be remembered that spices are allowed to be used in a child’s diet in very small quantities, almost zero. Spices that have a pungent or bitter taste should not be used in a child's diet. There is no clear age at which they can be introduced into the diet of children. However, in the nutrition of preschool children (and junior schoolchildren) they clearly do not belong, otherwise digestive problems are difficult to avoid.

Main sources of sodium (in mg per 100 g):

How to properly salt food

Food should be salted at the end of cooking. This not only helps preserve vitamins in it, but also avoids over-salting, since only the amount of sodium that was in the original products will be transferred into the dish. And yet, it is better to salt food in several stages, adding salt in small portions to the desired taste.