When Olympic champion Liu Xuan participated in the "Diary of a New Student", due to the extremely strict diet control of her 4-year-old son, such as not letting the child eat pickled eggs, not eating snacks, and even not allowing salt, not only the netizens who watched the show "couldn't watch it", even the lovers called her "iron-blooded mother".
Coincidentally, when "Heavenly King's sister-in-law" Kunling participated in a variety show, he also openly talked about his parenting philosophy.
She said that she would not give her children salt before the age of 2 and sugar before the age of 3, so she and her mother-in-law had a disagreement about childcare.
Indeed, in real life, many elderly people will think that "no salt has no strength", when adding complementary food to the baby, salt is an indispensable seasoning.
For most young parents, because they believe more in "scientific parenting", they tend to be more conservative when giving their babies salt, so the two sides inevitably have contradictions.
And I as a bao dad, when my child was 1 year old, in fact, I have always insisted on a salt-free diet, in the final analysis, the problem of children eating salt really can not be sloppy, giving the baby salt too early is indeed harmful.
Why can't children eat salt until they are 1 year old?
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents have clearly stated that children should start adding complementary foods at 6 months and do not need to add additional table salt before the age of 1.
In other words, even if the child has begun to add complementary foods, there is no need to add additional salt to taste.
In this regard, some elderly people may wonder, if the child does not eat salt, will not be without strength?
In fact, such worries are not necessary, we give the baby salt, the main purpose is to supplement sodium, sodium is indeed important for the child's physical development.
But the crux of the matter is that before the age of 1, the child does not need to supplement sodium through table salt, and breast milk and various complementary foods can fully meet the needs of the child.
For example, in 100 ml of breast milk, about 23 mg of sodium, whether it is rice, noodles, vegetables, meat, which contains a certain amount of sodium.
Before the age of 1, the appropriate daily intake (AI) of sodium is only 350mg, even if they do not eat salt, it is enough to meet the needs.
Conversely, if the child eats salt too early, it will cause the following problems:
1. Increase the excretion burden of the kidneys, resulting in sweating, indirectly causing calcium loss;
2. Affect the child's taste development, make the child "taste heavy", is not conducive to the development of healthy eating habits;
3. Cause the child's respiratory secretion to be reduced, and when the bacteria invade, it cannot provide effective protection, and it is more likely to suffer from colds and bronchitis.
Therefore, in summary, children do not need to eat additional salt before the age of 1, and if they eat salt too early, it is harmful.
After the age of 1, can the child eat salt with confidence?
Of course, the answer is no, just like Liu Xuan and Kunling's approach, if through the control of diet, children's needs for sodium can be met, their taste is relatively light, and it is completely fine not to eat salt after the age of 1.
According to the reference intake of nutrients in the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, the appropriate daily intake of sodium for children aged 1-3 years is 700mg, which is only equivalent to 1.8g when converted into table salt.
At this time, the amount of children's food increases, and the diet is more and more abundant, such as 1 egg can provide 71mg of sodium, 100g of fresh shrimp is more sodium 119mg, if the child drinks pure milk at the same time, every 100 ml of pure milk also contains sodium 40mg, so in most cases, we do not have to worry about the lack of sodium in children.
What other issues should we pay attention to when it comes to children eating salt?
1. Do not measure your child's taste by the taste of an adult
As we age, the number of human taste buds will continue to decrease, and taste sensitivity will continue to decline, so adult tastes tend to be more "heavy" than children.
The data shows that when the salt content of food is only 0.0028, adults will feel tasteless, but babies can taste the difference.
So even as children age, we should not measure their tastes by the taste of adults, parents feel that the taste is light, but it is most suitable for children.
2. In addition to salt, other seasonings should also be exempted
Before the child is 1 year old, in addition to avoiding salt, such as soy sauce, chicken essence monosodium glutamate and other seasonings, which also contain more sodium elements, should also be exempt.
And with the child's food gradually enriched, we should also avoid eating some processed foods with high sodium content, such as some puffed foods, tomato sauce, meat floss, meat crisp, etc. When purchasing for children, it is best to look at the ingredient list in advance to confirm the sodium content in it to prevent the child from overdose.
Old Miao Conclusion:
The issue of a child's salt may seem like a trivial matter, but it is crucial to its healthy development.
In the process of parenting, we must control the salt intake of children, learn from star mothers such as Liu Xuan and Kunling, and avoid letting the baby consume salt too early and excessively.
Today's topic: Did your child eat salt before he was 1 year old?
I am Lao Miao, a super grandfather after the 80s, and the most eye-catching male head nurse in the hospital, welcome to discuss the issue of pregnancy together, and please pay attention to Lao Miao.