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?

Ok that's nice for you. But in baby aisles in supermarkets they literally sell 'baby cereal' so obviously it does cross some people's minds. The advice is for everyone.

Perish the thought

What on earth would you do if your child didn't want your eggs or yoghurt?

You're laughing but the obesity rates in the UK are worse than mainland Europe. The percentage of ultra processed foods in children's diets is also much higher (from what I remember signs 60% in UK and only 25% in Italy). Why is that then in your opinion?

This. Guidelines are often for those who lack basic awareness and they are often from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Whilst cornflakes aren't going to be a breakfast food for mumsnet children, you need to be aware that not everyone has the budget for organic homemade muesli.
I'm Irish and working in a deprived area and was very shocked to discover that in some communities adding rice and custard to a newborn's bottle is very much a thing. Your head would blow off if you knew what is in the bottles of toddlers.

There’s loads of families in this country who can barely afford the weekly shop, so when it comes to giving their children breakfast they’re going to choose a 90p box of cereal over a £3 pack of salmon. Even eggs are expensive now.

DGS is 2. He sometimes has Rice Krispies, but he has them alongside berries and toast with peanut butter or marmite. He won’t eat white bread, it has to be seeded bread. He has a really good diet. He eats ways more than his 5 day, he never has biscuits, only has cake at birthdays, doesn’t drink anything other water or milk. If he sees a bottle of squash he says “adult drinks…” I really don’t think that he’s being harmed by a bowl of Rice Krispies for part of his breakfast.

But surely that's exactly why the government messaging should be clear: the ideal is nothing added to a newborn's bottle. Anything else is just confusing the issue. Same with healthy food for toddlers.

Well, it’s not because they have rice crispies and diluted apple juice for breakfast occasionally.

This won’t be popular but I think most of it is lifestyle related - too many snacks, too much screen time and not enough exercise and time out of the house.

It rots teeth.

High sugar, fast absorption spiking blood sugar, zero nutrition and zero fibre. Nothing right with rice crispies - for anyone never mind children.

But does any of that mean that the government should be actively recommending rice crispies?

Government advice needs to be realistic and to appeal to the masses though - it’s why we’re told to eat 5 bits of fruit and veg a day when the reality is that we should be having a lot more, but 5 is seen as realistic and not as off-putting.

Most schools are moving towards a common sense approach with this now. They’re relaxing the rules and allowing sugar free squash (of course they don’t know it’s sugar free) I think the general consensus is that being hydrated by weak squash is better than kids not drinking at all as many choose to do if they can only have water.

Yes. Because advice needs to be realistic and appeal to the majority. Telling people they should be cooking scrambled eggs or whipping up pans of porridge every morning is not going achieve anything - it will just put them off.

If you’re going to sneer, at least get your facts right - rice crispies, like all UK cereals, are fortified and contain plenty of nutrition.

Government advice should be accurate. If a first time mum googles what to feed her newborn she should be able to trust what the government tells her.

I agree. There's just a lot of neurotic behaviour around food nowadays.

But there are other options apart from elaborate home cooked meals. Instead of fruit juice they could recommend actual fruit. Instead of rice crispies they could say a slice of toast or whatever.

Do you honestly think a slice of processed, supermarket bread is better than a bowl of rice crispies in terms of nutrition?

A they do recommend whole fruit - one of the meals is weetabix with sliced banana.

My baby’s first food was broccoli at six months. Put her in the high chair with a few florets and let her work it out for herself.

Baby rice is fine if you’re not baby-led weaning but going from baby rice to purées to normal food sounds like a major faff to me.

I really don't think you can lay the UK obesity crisis at the door of foods like fruit juice and Rice Krispies

I live in France, a country with one of the lowest obesity rates in Europe. White bread and pastries are staples here, yet far fewer people are fat.

It's thought that obesity rates are so high for a multitude of reasons:

Brits don't move enough, don't eat enough fruit and veg, don't stop for a proper lunch, snack too much and eat too many pre-prepared meals in the evening.

So what’s the alternative? Should they say “if you can’t afford salmon or eggs and your kids won’t eat porridge don’t feed them any breakfast at all?”

So rice crispies is so processed and devoid of nutrients that it has to be fortified with vitamins/minerals to make it at all nutritious. How is that a better choice than a pot of yogurt or cheese or an apple or whatever?

That's not true though...

I was in Iceland on my lunch break a few days ago. It's a very deprived area and a colleague (who is foreign) commented that the shoppers all looked ill. Pale, sunken eyes with dark circles underneath. They were mostly young women with at least one young child in a buggy. Their baskets were full of those microwaveable burgers, chicken nuggets, energy drinks and microwave pizza slices. I couldn't get over how many things you could buy for £1. People in prison have a similar look due to high carb/empty calorie food. This empty calorie food is a big part of the obesity crisis in children.

Is buying an apple really more expensive than buying apple juice? I'd say not, especially if considering the price in relation to the nutritional value.

But in any case the government could have an 'ideal' food list and then give alternatives like rice crispies for picky eaters/lower budgets. They shouldn't be blanket recommending cereal to everybody.