Abandon bland and spice up your baby's life

Ditch the rice cereal and mashed peas, and make way for enchiladas, curry and even - gasp! - hot peppers.

It's time to discard everything you think you know about feeding babies. It turns out most advice parents get about weaning infants on to solid foods - even from paediatricians - is more myth than science.

That's right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn't have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won't breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring 'em on.

"There's a bunch of mythology out there about this," says Dr David Bergman, a Stanford University paediatrics professor. "There's not much evidence to support any particular way of doing things."

Word of that has been slow to reach parents and the stacks of baby books they rely on to navigate this often intimidating period of their children's lives. But that may be changing.

As research increasingly suggests a child's first experiences with food shape later eating habits, doctors say battling obesity and improving the diet may mean debunking the myths and broadening babies' palates.

It's easier - and harder - than it sounds. Easier because experts say 6-month-olds can eat many of the same things their parents do. Harder because it's tough to find detailed guidance for nervous parents.

"Parents have lost touch with the notion that these charts are guides, not rules," says Rachel Brandeis, from the American Dietetic Association. "Babies start with a very clean palate and it's your job to mold it."

It's easy to mistake that for a regimented process. Most parents are told to start rice cereal at 6 months, then progress to simple vegetables, mild fruits and finally pasta and meat.

Ethnic foods and spices are mostly ignored by the guidelines - cinnamon and avocados are about as exotic as it gets - and parents are warned off potential allergens such as nuts and seafood for at least a year.

Yet experts say children over 6 months can handle almost anything, with a few caveats: be cautious if you have a family history of allergies; introduce one food at a time and watch for any problems; and make sure the food isn't a choking hazard.

Parents elsewhere in the world certainly take a more freewheeling approach, often starting babies on heartier, more flavourful fare - from meats in African countries to fish and radishes in Japan and artichokes and tomatoes in France.

The difference is cultural, not scientific, says Dr Jatinder Bhatia, a member of the American Academy of Paediatrics' nutrition committee, who says the US approach fails to reflect the country's ethnic diversity.

Rayya Azarbeygui, a 35-year-old Lebanese immigrant living in New York, feeds her young son on the same foods she eats - heavily seasoned Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus and baba ghanoush.

"My paediatrician thinks I'm completely crazy," says Ms Azarbeygui, whose son is now 13 months old. "But he sees my child thriving and so says, "You know what, children in India eat like that. Why not yours?"'

How to introduce healthy children to solid food has rarely been studied.

In a review of the research, Nancy Butte, a paediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, found many strongly held assumptions - such as the need to offer foods in a particular order or to delay allergenic foods - have little scientific basis.

Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it's the best first food. But Professor Butte says iron-rich meat - often one of the last foods American parents introduce - would be a better choice.

Dr David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston, a specialist in paediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants.

"These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels" and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.

The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier. AP

Baby food rules

* Traditional: Rice cereal at 6 months, then vegetables, mild fruits and finally pasta and meat.

* New advice: Children over 6 months can more or less eat what their parents eat - just watch for allergies, introduce one food at a time and beware of choking hazards.