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

[fourfoxsakes]

from the government in Northern Ireland that is published online? Surely we don’t do these things any more such as mixing baby rice with milk and advising people to feed their very young children rice crispies and cornflakes for breakfast and advising people to give juice with meals! Surely this is bad advice, I am honestly surprised that the government have been allowed to publish this crap. I have no doubt people still do these things which is an individual parenting choice but surely the government shouldn’t be advocating for this?

I couldn’t agree more OP, I think nutrition in babies and under 5’s is a huge issue in this country and needs more focus. This is part of the problem.

Rice crispies, whist they do have sugar, are also fortified with vitamins and minerals. So that's not correct.

I'm honestly baffled about why water and milk as the main drink for kids, with juice as an occasional treat, is worthy of such scorn?

Hell of a lot easier to introduce kids to water and milk and maintain that than to start them off on sweetened drinks as standard and then try to course correct later when people start bleating about how their little darling is dying of dehydration at school because "they just don't like the taste of water and refuse to drink it."

From a health authority "give kids juice every morning" is indeed pretty crap advice.

What’s wrong also with babies usual milk mixed with baby rice as a first meal before moving on to fruits and veg etc ? They are not saying mixing it for bottle use.

Agree with others juices with a meal rather than throughout the day for teeth.

It’s not the NHS in NI. It’s the HSC. It is clear that the OP and many others here know absolutely nothing about NI or they would understand that the culture is different and therefore so is the advice. — From someone who actually raised a baby recently in NI.

DD has a carton of apple juice with her breakfast every morning, teeth fine because y'know we brush them. And she drinks water or milk at all other times, with the occasional request for a glass of squash.

I wouldn't feed my kids fruit juice or cereal on a regular basis. Maybe cereal on a camping trip...

Juice is just refined sugar with all the fibre removed. Better off having a glass of water and a satsuma.

Cereal is UPF refined carbs and sugar... total junk.

It's all part of a well balanced diet!
A bit of variety.
Look at the whole day or the whole week, rather than just focussing on one element of one meal.
Breakfast cereals (not the sugar coated ones) are not that bad, given all the extra vitamins minerals, when combined with milk and fruit.
Kids need different foods to adults in order to develop and grow.

I don’t beleive this is about cost rather than education. You can buy wholesome real food cheaply. As an example, a bag of porridge oats from Tesco is cheaper than a box of rice crispies and is packed full of goodness and sustained energy for babies and toddlers. A bag of satsumas is cheaper than a bottle of juice and has fibre and less sugar.

If your giving juice just make sure you don't brush teeth straight after - my dentist told me that the acid in juice (and wine... not for the kids but maybe me...) dissolves the enamel on teeth so swishing with water is better than brushing straight away as brushing acid into teeth removes even more enamel. If that makes sense!

Curious-what would you give a child for breakfast? Some form of protein?

It doesn't take much to shock you does it..

It's perfectly fine and realistic.

What do you actually think is going to happen if a young child has a cup of very diluted fruit juice with their breakfast?

Breast milk (and regular cows milk) are both naturally sweet anyway so I fail to see why they’re okay but naturally occurring sugars in fruit juice aren’t?

What's wrong with baby rice and milk?

Professor Tim Spector, a leading gut health expert and co-founder of the nutrition company ZOE, generally advises against most commercial cereals and fruit juices due to their high sugar content and ultra-processed nature. He even described a breakfast of cereal with orange juice as a "bowl of sugar".

Cereal
Spector points out that many breakfast cereals, even those marketed as healthy, are ultra-processed foods (UPFs) with long ingredient lists and added sugars. This processing often removes beneficial fiber and nutrients, leading to rapid blood sugar spikes, energy crashes, and increased hunger later in the day.
He recommends choosing higher-fiber, whole-grain options or plain oats if consuming cereal, and always checking the ingredients list for hidden sugars and additives. He personally avoids most sugary, artificially created cereals.

Juice
Spector advises against fruit juice because it contains all the natural sugars of the fruit but lacks the fiber. Without the fiber to slow absorption, these sugars enter the bloodstream quickly, similar to eating a candy bar.
For a healthier alternative to plain juice or diet drinks (which contain artificial sweeteners that may also disrupt the gut microbiome).

What do you feed your kids for breakfast?

Drinking orange juice with meat helps you absorb more iron? Rice crispies are just rice. I don’t see how that could be a disaster given that a fifth of the world’s total calorie intake comes from rice. Basically remove the salt from what you usually eat and adjust the portions and all will be well.

They are fortified, particularly with iron and other minerals, and many child paediatric dietitians will recommend them as a way of easily and cheaply getting iron into kids.

Small weaning children are unlikely to consume the volumes of spinach and red meat needed to prevent iron deficiency.

at least if you are going to froth, please do it with some
knowledge

I am literally about to feed my baby her first ever food and it was going to be this. I need answers

They had porridge with cow milk, tbs ground almonds, raisins and a bit of cinnamon this morning.. with a glass of water (they both failed to drink the water but it was on the table...)

So not very protein based today.

They often have bagels with salmon and cream cheese or scrambled eggs. Occasionally they will have like a burrito with beans and eggs.

I have one veggie and one allergic to all fish and seafood so protein is tricky!

A solitary satsuma apparently 😂

To add, this advice is not just for juice (and wine).

Ideally, teeth should not be brushed until at least 30 minutes after eating or drinking (except water).

I gave my kids steamed (and cooler) squash for their first food. And cucumber / melon sticks so suck on. We did baby led weaning.

Too much unnecessary sugar. Packet cereals are expensive, UPF and poor nutritional value. There are far better breakfasts.

It's interesting that this is NI OP, because when I went to antenatal classes at the Royal hospital in Belfast years ago, we had a talk from a dentist who worked there, and he was very emphatic about not giving babies and young children juice, nothing but water and milk! Obviously people will do it occasionally. but he was very against the idea. NI has terrible outcomes in children's dental health so no wonder he was so passionate about it.

It's also ironic to bang on about salt in food while advising giving kids breakfast cereals but again, unrealistic to expect people not to do it.