Is there such a thing as too much fruit?

[Eminybob]

DS is 13 months old and absolutely loves his fruit but I'm a bit worried he's eating too much of it. I can't get him to eat much veg so I just go with it, thinking it must be healthy. But I know it's full of sugar so is it bad for him?

I don't know if this is a lot but today he has eaten:

4 large strawberries
A large banana
A handful of blueberries
About 10 red grapes
A tangerine

I try and balance everything out, he's also had toast, an egg, pasta with tomato sauce and a yoghurt. Does this sound ok?

I'm amazed to hear a dentist recommending fruit - they're very unlikely to do that these days, because a lot of dental problems are caused by our acidic, 'healthy' diets. Apart from obvious sugar in sweets and fizzy drinks, sugar in fruit juice and fruit is a major cause of enamel erosion as well as tooth decay.

The fruit is mainly at meal times, sometimes as a snacks.

But I am going to make a conscious effort to switch the snacks to veg.

Vegetable purée and vegetable soup are wrongly shunned a weaning foods IMO. My French DSSs were weaned in French tradition on vegetable soup (in bottles) and have always been enthusiastic vegetable eaters. My DD, weaned most haphazardly by me without vegetable soup is much fussier even now (aged 10) about vegetables. Early introduction to cauliflower/broccoli/spinach is to be recommended.

I did mention to my dentist when we last went in that he eats a lot of fruit. The dentist said its fine as long as we brush his teeth twice a day. Which we do.

One other tip - don't brush teeth immediately after eating sugar/fruit or drinking fruit juice (or alcohol if we're talking adults!). Leave it for 30 minutes or so

from this site

"Fruits, particularly orange or lemon juice, vinegar, sport drinks and soft drinks, all have a very high level of acidity in them and what they do is soften the enamel," he said.

"If you then go and brush your teeth straight away you're going to damage the softened enamel."

Waiting to brush for at least 30 minutes gives your mouth time to produce enough saliva to neutralize the acidity, Alldritt says. This saliva helps your teeth to harden and absorb more calcium, which then acts like a coat of armour.

"Saliva contains calcium and phosphate ions and teeth also contain these ions, so saliva acts as a reservoir of calcium and phosphate for your teeth," he said.

"Saliva also contains enzymes and buffers which neutralize acid and return the pH of your mouth to neutral over time."

You especially want to avoid brushing if you've consumed anything that contains citric acid, found in fruit, or phosphoric acid, which most soft drinks are filled with. Drinks that combine both of these acids, such as lemon-flavoured fizzy drinks, are harder for saliva to neutralise.

As has already been said upthread, my DCs eat lots of fruit, but mostly at mealtimes. It's very rare they get snacks (unless it's eating in a social scenario like a party and then Im not bothered if it's fruit or haribo as it's not a regular occurrence) but if they ask then it'll be an apple with a slice of cheese to help combat the damage to their teeth.

I was just coming back on to say about offering a little cube of cheese if your dc has fruit as a snack or at the end of a meal too, as mentioned by pp above. My dcs take a babybel in their lunchbox, they know to eat it at the end to 'clean their teeth' just to neutralise the acid from fruit / juice in their box.

My dd is 20 months and will only eat vegetables when she's in the mood. She isn't a massive fan of fruit either though but recently had success with banana, pear and apples. I made a sweet potato and mixed veg soup today for lunch and she licked the bowl clean. I think as other posters said, try to only have one or two portions of fruit and the rest veg. I always blend veg into sauces for pasta, or grate carrot into mince dishes. If I can sneak veg into a meal, I will.

Another thing dd likes is vegetable fritters. I grate veg, mix with flour and egg then fry till crisp. Sweet potato, carrot and courgette work well, as does mashing up peas. I tend to shove cheese and herbs/spices in too. They freeze well too and are ideal for packed lunches. Serve them with a dip and voila.

Agree with Bobo puree'd veg can be a lovely side dish, with a drizzle of olive oil or bit of butter it's not just for babies. We have a lovely carrot and beetroot one.
Another thing the French do is have a vegetable course before the meal so veg is approached with an appetite, so ends up a favored food. I think a lack of hunger, from no real gaps between eating in British culture doesn't help us favor the more nutritious table foods either.