Baby porridge. Food for babies, but also food for conflict between professionals, influencers and parents of young children. While home-made porridge is called “diet porridge for babies”, industrially produced porridge in VG is blamed for containing large amounts of sugar. But what exactly is the difference? And does it really matter whether your child gets home-made porridge or ready-made porridge? – Lower your shoulders and make what suits you best, says clinical nutritionist Oddveig Fossdal Drøpping. Norway, a gruel nation The nutritionist underlines that it is completely safe to give both home-made and industrially produced gruel. – But you have to make sure that the porridge is prepared in the right way, so that it is nutritious enough, and that they get a sufficient amount of iron. According to her, you can do this as follows: The grains should be soaked for at least one hour before you cook the porridge. Add vitamin C, for example a vitamin C-rich fruit such as strawberries or kiwi. Use a cereal that is rich in iron, for example oatmeal, millet flakes or ground halibut. Avoid iron-poor types of flour such as rice flour, sifted halibut or the like. You should add breast milk or breast milk substitute after the cereal is cooked if you make the porridge yourself. Feel free to add a fat source, for example oil. Nutritionist Oddveig Fossdal Drøpping asks parents to lower their shoulders and give the porridge that suits them best. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news You can also start by giving mashed vegetables and potatoes mixed with breast milk or breast milk formula. It is good that the child gets to taste different foods. – Then you can, for example, give mashed vegetables and fruit, or mashed dinner without added salt. Variety is also important. – It can quickly become a bit monotonous if you only give one type of shop-bought porridge, or one type of homemade porridge. I would therefore recommend varying between types and varieties of grain, she says. From bought porridge to homemade porridge Mother of three Maria Haugland (32) has followed the so-called porridge debate closely. While her eldest son only got köpgraut, the middle girl got a combination of both. Her youngest only gets home-cooked food. – I think there will be a lot of focus on cereal, but there is so much else you can give. Haugland lacks more information about alternatives to porridge. – Here at home we started, for example, with homemade liver pâté, sourdough bread, butter and long-cooked lamb meat. Maria Haugland together with her daughter Vega. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news Concerned health center When she told the health center about her plans to test something called “baby led weaning (BLW)”, she was met with scepticism. – It is a method that involves allowing the children to explore and eat their own food to a greater extent, already from an early age, says Haugland. The health center was concerned that her daughter would not be getting enough nutrition. Others she has spoken to also tell similar stories. – Many people send me messages and tell me about strange advice they have received from the health center and that they are looked at strangely if they want to go their own way, she says. It’s important to get support for what feels right for you, whether it’s buying porridge or making it at home, says the mother of three. – In the worst case, this leads to people not daring to be honest. And it shouldn’t be like that. It is important to know what you are doing with Astrid Midtsund is one of the professionals who has signed the column “Ikke bare barnemat”, which is among the newest contributions to the heated debate around industrially produced baby porridge. She is a board member of the national group of health nurses and has worked as a health nurse for 16 years. Over time, she has seen a change in society that worries her. – We see a trend where people have started to doubt the advice from the health centre. I think it is about the fact that the flow of information in society in general has become so great that it is easy to get confused. For example, advice from influencers, she says. At the same time, she points out that those who work at the health center have no commercial ties. – They are there exclusively to help you and have nothing to sell, she elaborates. She is positive about giving children more home-made food, but strongly recommends consulting a health center or other knowledgeable health personnel before starting to serve home-made baby porridge. – It’s perfectly fine to give your child home-made porridge, but then you have to know what you’re doing. With the chronicle, she hopes to reach out to all those who are upset because they feel it is not okay to give ready-made porridge or breast milk substitute to their children.
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The nutritionist’s tips for homemade baby gravy – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
