Do you eat enough vegetables every day?
Probably not. Only 7% of the Australian population does.
This is despite consistent messaging across countries and health agencies, over the last several decades, that aiming for 5-a-day is optimal for our health.
Contrarily, the messaging around when to start solid foods has been anything but consistent.
In my last article on solid food introduction (which you can read here), I traced the shifting and contradictory advice given to new mothers over the last century. Official advice changed over the course of just 50 years from delaying solids until close to a year to suggesting that a baby was ready for solids at 5 weeks old. Now the official guidelines suggest that solid food can be introduced around 6 months of age, but not before 4 months, once baby shows signs of readiness.
Unsurprisingly given the confusion over the last few decades, many babies start on solid food well before they’re likely to be showing any signs of readiness. In Australia, 44% of babies start on solids before 4 months, which is comparable to the rate of early solid food introduction found in other countries such as the UK and USA. Only a scant 7% of Australian infants are being introduced to solids after 6 months of age.
There are two questions that I think are warranted based on this information:
1. Does it matter?
The general population typically has a fair understanding of why vegetables are nutritionally important, even if they don’t meet the guidelines. They know why vegetables matter. Is there a similar nutritionally valid reason for delaying the introduction of solid food?
2. Why aren’t people meeting the guidelines?
Just telling people to eat more vegetables does nothing if they can’t afford to buy them or don’t have the time to prepare them. Getting to the root cause is better than just yelling at people more loudly to stick to the guidelines. So what factors are driving parents to introduce solid foods early?
Let’s learn.
First up, does it matter?
Short answer: Probably.
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