Rethinking First Foods

Sunday, Jun. 11, 2006 By PAMELA PAUL
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That's a shame because babies are already not eating enough vegetables. According to the 2002 survey, Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS), which tracked the diets of more than 3,000 tots, a quarter of 9-to-11-month-olds do not routinely consume even one helping of vegetables a day. Those who do tend to have the least nutritious kind. By 9 months, potatoes, either mashed or fried, are the most commonly consumed vegetable; by 12 months, 13% of babies eat French fries every day, according to FITS, which was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and sponsored by Gerber Products Co.

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Babies and toddlers are also learning early on to indulge their sweet tooth. FITS found that 10% of 4-to-6-month-olds consume desserts, sweets or sweetened beverages daily. By the time they are 2, 60% of toddlers eat some kind of pastry every day. Although added sugar was removed from most jarred baby foods in the mid-1990s, baby-food companies continue to offer dessert lines with flavors such as vanilla custard pudding and peach cobbler, loaded with sugar and starch. Early exposure to intensely sweet foods has long-term consequences, says Amy Lanou, a senior nutrition scientist for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington-based nonprofit. "When we're really young, our taste buds are especially attuned to sweet flavors. If you're offered bananas and berries at an early age, that level of sweetness will satisfy. But if you're given concentrated sweets, a taste for those intense sweets will follow you for the rest of your life."

On a more positive side, ethnic communities are introducing other Americans to the notion that babies need not subsist on pabulum. South Asian parents offer curries in small doses at young ages. Hispanic parents give their babies tortillas and other ethnic dishes. "There is no good reason to feed babies bland food," says Nancy Butte, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "It's culturally determined, not scientifically based."

Another healthy trend is the growth of organic baby food. Sales were up 57% in the past four years, although organic still has only 2.7% of the U.S. baby-food market, according to ACNielsen. Some pediatricians say organic produce is especially beneficial to babies. "Organic fruits and vegetables tend to have about 30% more antioxidants than nonorganics," says Dr. Alan Greene, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University and host of DrGreene.com "This is when babies' brains are developing and are most in need of those benefits." Some researchers believe babies are particularly vulnerable to pesticides, traces of which can be found in commercially grown produce. A study in California found that newborns exposed to higher levels of pesticides in utero were more likely to have abnormal neurological reflexes. Still, some doctors say because no definitive data support the benefits of organic baby food, the extra cost--sometimes over 50% more a jar--may not be worth it.

Pediatricians do agree on one thing: the period before age 2 is critical for establishing healthy eating. "We need to send a message to new parents," says Dr. Ari Brown, of Austin, Texas. "Here's your opportunity to change the way a generation eats. By the time a child is 10, eating chips in front of the TV, it's almost too late."