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

They can't make up the amount of added vitamins and minerals.

There are definitely barriers to cooking and storing food for many people, but I have to say that porridge does not take a long time or effort, its literally 3 minutes in the microwave - you can stick it in then go brush teeth while its cooking so no time is wasted. Doesn't need sweetening either, I never sweetened it for my children so they wouldn't get into that habit - my son always has it with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top (which is a pricy upfront cost but a jar lasts a long time) but a chopped up banana added to a bowl of porridge will sweeten it plus adds fruit to the meal.

Well, I wouldn't describe autistic children as not healthy but I accept it seems to be a clumsy way of saying that you meant medical conditions etc.

Did you reply to me by mistake, or include the wrong link? I've only read the abstract, but I don't see what that's got to do about whether Tesco are lying about what's in their rice snaps?

But this just says a high sugar diet is bad for you? Not that Rice Krispies are nutritionally bankrupt?

So you think manufacturers are just making shit up now?

Baby rice and milk has long been used as a weaning food. They don’t mean to put rice in the baby’s bottle (if they’re formula fed). They mimesn mix it together in a bowl if you’re spoon feeding, to offer your baby something that tastes familiar. It might be a bit old fashioned in today’s ’baby led’ weaning circles but it’s not bad advice per se I don’t think?

https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj-2022-071609

If you don’t accept the reams of evidence, you’re either working for an interested company, or you’re determined to keep your eyes closed. Your loss. I

Greek yoghurt is likely to be unpalatable for many young children who are not used to it. Someone above suggested adding nuts and berries to porridge/yoghurt, which is expensive.

I’ve recently replaced my £1.40 pastry on office days with Greek yoghurt and low sugar granola. I calculated that I was saving 40p a day doing this. But up front I paid about £5, which is twice what I would usually pay a week. Can you not see that I’m lucky to have the funds to spend a larger amount but which ultimately saves me money?

Which ones? Red lentils might, but other varieties require soaking. And once you have spent half an hour cooking red lentils what are doing with them?
I was equally classist, of course! The reason she doesn't have time is because she gets home at odd hours (shifts) and she is tired and the DC are hungry now.

Instant porridge oats take a few minutes but if you want proper and nutritional porridge it takes time and skill. In 1904 there was a book published called 'Round About a £1 a Week'. In it M/C women trying to help out the working poor suggested porridge, to be told that the DC would not eat it as it was tasteless, having been cooked with water - I am without doubt the same is true now unless you are cooking one of the flavoured microwavable porridges (and they still taste like wallpaper paste when made with water) which are of little nutritional value.
The guidance in question is from NI and not from their branch of the NHS. NI has a very different culture from mainland UK.

Sorry, you think that the nutritional information provided on food is just invented? That it's a conspiracy? Rice crispies aren't promoted as high fibre, because they aren't, but yes, I do think the breakdown given on the label is true.

I wonder why the manufacturer might make those claims? 🤔

The diet suggested is fine for a young child. If you look accross the days & week there are protein, carbs, fats, calcium and vitamins. Cornflakes & rice krispires feature in a couple of meals. They are not the devils food. Served with milk and fruit (as suggested) they are fine on occasion. Porridge made with water is not necessarily better for a child than cornflakes and full fat milk. They are not dieting adults. Milk and fortified cereal provide the fats, calcium, protein, carbs and vitamins that children need. The porrige, stews and veggies people suggest also feature on the menu. It is about suggesting achievable, familiar and palatable options that provide a balanced diet.

“Would it not be better if they spent more money on wholesome things like oranges and wholemeal bread or if they even, like the writer of the letter to the New Statesman, saved on fuel and ate their carrots raw? Yes, it would, but the point is that no ordinary human being is ever going to do such a thing. The ordinary human being would sooner starve than live on brown bread and raw carrots. And the peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food. A millionaire may enjoy breakfasting off orange juice and Ryvita biscuits; an unemployed man doesn't. Here the tendency of which I spoke at the end of the last chapter comes into play. When you are unemployed, which is to say when you are underfed, harassed, bored, and miserable, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want something a little bit 'tasty'. There is always some cheaply pleasant thing to tempt you.”
George Orwell,
The Road To Wigan Pier, 1937

I did say 'my country'. The advice isn't terrible but its not great either, and they really shouldn't be recommending juice, at most it should say 'juice is not recommended for most children, if needed for constipation then give at mealtimes', and they shouldn't be recommending daily puddings, there's no need for that.

Please could I ask you to accept that with the shorthand of "healthy", I was specifically making allowance for children who have medical conditions that affect their ability to engage with activities of daily living, including eating.

Every day in that sample menu has a portion of dairy (two of which are yoghurt - not greek, because that's pretty much the most expensive yoghurt) and three of the five tea-time meals are eggs. They are recommending that people eat those foods. People are really overfocusing on the breakfast and overcatastrophising about one portion of rice crispies a week.

Greek yoghurt without anything added to it is not going to appeal to most children. Scrambled eggs also require time and a means to cook them!

They really really won’t.

i used to buy carrots, like I said. Big bag of them, pretty cheap and I used to eat one at break time for my snack.

lots of hungry kids turned them down. They’d rather be hungry than eat a carrot.

it really isn’t the case that a hungry child will eat anything. They have very strong ideas about what they will and won’t eat.

I used to do a lesson most years where I bought various types of fruit and as a class we did a taste test and rated each fruit on various ways - Taste nice, look nice, say how much you’d pay for it in Tesco sort of thing. Nearly all kids would try nearly all of the types of fruit but most didn’t like them.

(we then did a load of averages and wrote a report recommending which one of the fruits should be added to the school canteen).

Are you suggesting that children with autism aren’t healthy?

Which is an interesting condition to add in itself, since the leaflet we're discussing doesn't state that it only applies to, say, NT kids.

It's also pretty common human behaviour not to eat things we find objectionable and/or aren't confident in, even when the alternative is hunger. The post half an hour ago about the peanut foods in Bangladesh is a good example of that. For small children especially, there are obvious reasons why they've evolved to be unadventurous and trust what the adults around them are eating.

This. The advice is pants and convenience foods should be discouraged as much as possible at that age. Protein for breakfast: think Greek youghurt or scrambled eggs instead of sugary cereal. 150ml juice max at any age. Water is much better. Eat an apple for fibre if you like the taste.

You’re right that eating healthily isn’t automatically more expensive but you have to look at the whole picture, which for some reason you’re choosing not do.

Is porridge oats and water cheaper than cereal with milk? Of course, but you need a way to cook the porridge, and you need the time and the inclination. You also need to make it in a way that’s appealing to small children, many of whom won’t want to eat it plain with water.

Whereas a bowl of cereal with milk requires nothing more than a bowl and a spoon. It takes 5 seconds to put together. It tastes the same every time. It’s fortified with iron and other vitamins. The added milk gives you calcium which is vital for small children.

Told you so, @QuinqueremeofNiveneh! The neurodiverse MNers never let you down.

I did specifically say "healthy".