To be shocked by this government dietary advice for babies and children?

There are absolutely loads of foods that I introduced at weaning that my children won't eat now! Including, for one of them, the sainted bowl of porridge...

There's nothing judgemental about it, this child had had major surgery and the mother was trying to force a fizzy drink and mars bar down him, calling it a good breakfast. My DC have eaten/drank loads of crap, I'm not particularly bothered, especially when sick, but the nurses were even telling her he wasn't up to eating, and should start with clear liquids when he felt ready.

Thank you. Avocado may be good for us but it is not good for the environment, sadly. I always think it tastes like soap.

It's very true that if you introduce foods at weaning DC will eat them. My DC were gently weaned onto very spicy food and like and eat it to this day (and so does DS' DC).

Bang on.

But the orthorexics of Mumsnet prefer to apply their fanatical puritan logic around diet and nutrition as it helps convince them they are absolutely in the right.

There can even be a difference between wards in the same hospital too! One ward my son was on had its own chef funded by a charity so the menu was bigger (though still not particularly healthy) and they also had extra staff funded by the charity who would do things such as make the children milkshakes to order which my son loved, make parents teas/coffee and nip to the canteen for a cooked breakfast if that is what the child wanted to eat.

The other wards were just a smaller bog standard kiddie menu and definitely no special milkshakes!

er tinned tomatoes and a lot more than one spoon of curry powder was her curry….

i never ate it after the first time it gave me diarrhoea. I had plain rice instead.

Yeah someone else explained about the lack of catering facilities, which would make cereal the cheaper and easier option (with proper facilities porridge would be cheaper, its a very cheap food when made in mass quantities but requires proper facilities for that).
Its a real shame that there can be such a difference in food quality between different hospitals, food is so important to recovery when you're ill/injured so patients ought to have good quality food whatever hospital they're in.

I'm afraid I disagree with you here. I believe it's down to budget. Own brand rice crispies are significantly cheaper than other options and require less time and skill from staff. (There was a marked difference in food - and the availability of food - between GOSH, which has a ton of money, and my local hospital.)

This made me laugh. This has not been a possibility in any of the 5 London hospitals I have experience of. Some stale, non brand rice crispies and a slice of bread (not toast, they won't toast the bread for you, I asked), if you're lucky.

This seems pretty judgemental. If he had surgery, presumably it was under GA, meaning no food or drink since the night before. So it's quite feasible this child hadn't had anything to eat or drink for 24hrs. As soon as they wake up from GA, they are encouraged by staff to eat and drink as soon as they are able - it's a requirement before they are able to go home. As for offering unhealthy food immediately after surgery - you offer whatever they will be tempted by. I bring cookies and a mini can of Sprite, as I know they won't be rejected. Happy to give you an alternative view so you can reassess your view of what's appropriate in these circumstances.

It actually looks pretty balanced to me. Every day has a mix of dairy, fibre, fruit, vegetables and protein; and avoids being too repetitive. (The potato bread made me smile - I miss potato bread.)

And it's a guide - people are supposed to use it as something to aim for/give them an idea of what balanced eating looks like and adapt it to their life. e.g. DS and I hate bananas, so we don't eat them. But I can replace banana with another piece of fruit. Ready made cereals can easily be replaced with porrige (with or without different toppings for variety and a chance to get some extra nutrients into meals) etc.

I don't shop at Waitrose no, I use Aldi for all my seeds and nuts as it's by far the cheapest. I buy flax/chia/ cashews and mixed seeds from there. My DC eat chia pudding for breakfast because they've been given it since they started weaning.

I have taken on a lot of points from this thread but acting as though everyone who feeds their kids non processed foods must live in Kensington doesn't help the conversation either.

I fully appreciate that there are things I hadn't thought about and have taken that on board, and I do think there is more nuanced discussion to be had which include not demonising other foods.

I'm not the OP so can't comment on the salmon. Avocado is full of good fats and baby and toddlers need lots of good fats to support brain development.

That’d be a fun breakfast! 😂🤪😜

That poster is talking about cereals being fed to inpatients in NHS hospitals.

You do realise this leaflet isn’t from the NHS, right?

So your mum could cook then? A bloody good curry from scratch isn't simple (I'm not talking about curries that use tinned tomatoes and a spoon of curry powder).

Mine had numerous surgeries and fizzy drinks as the first thing was always a no no. That's not really the point though, as I said I'm not overly healthy and partial to a bit of junk food myself, but labelling a fizzy drink and mars bar as "a good breakfast" is shocking.

Life should not be dull for six month old babies because they don’t have juice.

It is definitely child dependant. My son would've lead a riot if he was without food for 12 hours after surgery but was allowed to eat.

Of course, very different if the boy didn't feel like eating anything. After my son's surgeries, they always wanted him trying to eat something if he was allowed to eat.

I grew up on a diet of frozen beige food.

my mum couldn’t cook. Neither could her mum.

my mum was better than my dad though as when she went away for a week we had takeaway every single night. I still remember it and that must have been 1985.

my mum did learn how to do packet pasta, and she did a bloody good curry (had spent time in Africa) but only had about five meals she ever cooked from scratch.

when I went to uni I learnt from cookbooks and friends. Honestly, it isn’t very easy to learn. Not if you are trying to do it from a book and there’s no video and you don’t know what half the words mean.

i’ve got a lot better, mostly by trial and error and I have done some cooking classes but teaching yourself to cook is not the easiest of things to do.

You go and feed yourself rubbish if you want and this helps you feel better about that, regardless of your personal views the NHS shouldn't be promoting processed rubbish of zero nutritional value other than what's pumped into it artificially.

Her son wasn't even out of surgery 12 hours and there was no mention of him needing to eat, he was still on fluids. I'm not of the chia pudding/nut butter ilk, but even I wouldn't think fizzy drinks and a heavy chocolate bar would be appropriate. She was concerned the anaesthetic was curdling in his stomach (not sure what that means) and that was why she wanted him to eat, not because he was hungry or needing to eat.

This thread has so many mumsnet cliches it’s ridiculous. Everyone’s an expert on nutrition ( or so they think) UPF, sugar, fruit, carbs,snacks all demonised. Everyone has to eat a protein filled breakfast every day even if you have work or school, get up at 5am!! Only ever drink water.

People not understanding how others eat, how privilege, finances and education play a huge part. I work with deprived families. That meal plan/advise would be a start…. some really have no idea.

Did they actually think it was a good breakfast? Or was it just a case of enticing her child to eat after surgery which can be difficult?

A lot of typical things can go out of the window when your child is in hospital and doesn't necessarily mean it is the done thing at home.

My son had tons and tons more screen time than usual as an example.

Oh, don't be so bloody miserable. It's cereal and juice, not gin shots and cocaine.