Author and nutritionist to speak on baby food

THE question of when to start feeding babies solids is among the most worrying decisions parents have to make, says 'The Nourished Baby' author Julie Bhosale.

Dr Bhosale will talk about her research and findings in a presentation in Gisborne on Sunday.

Evidence shows that decisions around shifting a baby onto solids can have potentially significant lifelong consequences, she says.

“Across both developed and developing countries, childhood obesity continues to soar, along with iron deficiency and the beginning signs for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.”

In New Zealand, one in three children is either overweight or obese.

While researching for her doctoral thesis at AUT, Dr Bhosale measured children who, at the age of 10, were overweight and had high blood pressure.

“The fact a child just a few years older than my elder son had one of the biggest red flags for a heart attack before they were even in high-school was hard for me to comprehend,” she says.

The first year of life offers a window in which foods babies start eating lay down their nutritional and metabolic blueprint.

“The importance of establishing healthy habits in the first 12 months of a baby’s life cannot be stressed enough.”

The main focus of her book The Nourished Baby is the food people give their babies in that first year.

“I know the impact that first foods have on a baby and their health, and am frustrated at baby-food companies promoting their products as ‘healthy’ homemade food. When I conducted my own research on products in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, the results were a huge surprise.”