Clean

Solids: You Are What You Eat

Now that I have read "Super Baby Food" (about a thousand times) I feel (super?) confident about introducing solids. The book is extremely thorough. I especially like Ruth Yaron's "Super Porridge" concept, although I can't imagine Chase enjoying it with the recommended Brewers Yeast, desiccated liver and sea kelp (I can just imagine how popular she'd be if I served some up to her friends during a slumber party).

Funny how things from your childhood come back to haunt you once you have a child of your own. I remember my mom (bless her) used to work her tail off to get me to eat (and enjoy) healthy food. I remember veggie cars (celery body, carrot wheels - held together with toothpicks) and plastic Easter eggs filled with grapes. I remember that I could choose my own breakfast cereal, but sugar could not be one of the first three ingredients (this knocks out everything except whole grain cheerios and wheeties). Dinner was usually something uber healthy - I recall a lot of tofu. I, of course, only wanted to eat candy, twinkies, donuts, lunchables (they were so rad!) ding dongs and costco muffin tops.

So my parents came up with a plan. A donut dinner. No kidding. All the donuts I could stuff in my face in one sitting. Of course I ate so many that I felt ill afterwards; it took a good, long while before I wanted a donut again (also worth mentioning the fact that I quickly became the coolest kid on the block when my friends found out I had a donut dinner).

Now as a grown-up, I can certainly see where my parents were coming from (and I thank them for their continued efforts). I want my daughter to be healthy, of course, but still enjoy junk food on occasion. For me, the fact I couldn't have it made me want it all the more (a reoccurring theme in my life, as it turns out).

But as we all know, children today are in bad shape!

The NDP (NDEP is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations) indicates that:

- Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in school-aged children.

- In the United States, about 176,500 people under 20 years of age have diabetes.

- Ten to 15 percent of children and teens are overweight – about double the number of two decades ago – increasing numbers of young people have type 2 diabetes.

So how does one find a balance between Super Porridge with sea kelp and donut dinners?

Now there's food for thought....