HiPP's Baby & Nutrition Blog

Hi everyone,

As parents we have many responsibilities. One that shouldn’t be underestimated in this day and age, in my opinion, is teaching our children about healthy food choices and sensible eating.  

We must try to help our children feel good about their bodies and show them how to maintain a healthy body weight, whilst ensuring that the foods they choose provides all the nutrition they need for good health and well-being. Whilst you may feel you don’t have all the skills and nutritional knowledge to pass on to your children, there are various tools available to help you do this. Some links that you might find useful for yourself and any older children are given below:

NHS - Good food for home

NHS - Change 4 Life

Some simple things to remember include:

• Offer children a variety of nutritious foods at planned meal and snack times – and if possible eat with them and use it as an opportunity to talk about different foods and why they are good to include in the diet
• Plan meals and snacks at regular times - Having set meals and snack times can help children develop good eating patterns and teach them good food behaviors
• Don’t overfeed – try and pick up on their cues for when they are hungry or full. Babies and young children generally have ways of telling you when they are hungry and know when they’ve had enough to eat. Don’t force babies and young children to finish off all the food that you offer them if they don’t seem to want it.
• Try and be a positive role model for a healthy lifestyle - Children like to imitate adults, and will learn many of their attitudes about healthy (or unhealthy) eating and physical activity from you. Be enthusiastic about trying new foods yourself. Spend time playing actively with them and don’t just sit and watch. When children notice that you are trying new foods and playing actively, they are more likely to do the same.

For a handy guide on what makes up a good diet for a baby, why not have a look at our leaflet.

I hope you’ve found this interesting.

Best wishes,

Helen

Hello again!

Whether you’re planning your first baby or you’re thinking about having another, a healthy diet makes good sense for both you and your partner. Your eating, weight and lifestyle habits have a significant influence on your health, your fertility and once you’ve become pregnant on the growth and development of your unborn baby.

Now is a great time to reassess your diet and to check that you are eating a wide variety of healthy foods. You need to have a good balance between starchy carbohydrate foods; moderate amounts of protein foods; low fat dairy products and plenty of fruits and vegetables. A healthy balanced diet should supply you with all the nutrients you need, but one vitamin that is particularly important pre-conceptually and in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is folic acid and so you should take extra folic acid (400mcg/day) in the form of a supplement during this time.

There are also a couple of other nutrients that need special attention at this time. You should make sure you’re eating enough iron-rich foods to build up your body stores in preparation for your pregnancy, so include red meat, fish, poultry, beans, dark green leafy vegetables and wholegrain cereals regularly. Omega 3 fatty acids play a critical role in the development of the brain and nervous system of a baby so it is a good idea to top up your stores of these too by eating two portions of fish per week (at least one of these portions as oily fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel).

Both you and your partner should reduce your alcohol intakes in line with official recommendations and aim for a healthy weight. Being a healthy body weight can help you to conceive – being very underweight or obese can reduce your chances of conceiving, and being obese while pregnant can increase the risk of complications. And for your partner, it is worth checking the diet contains enough zinc and selenium containing foods as these have been shown to be linked with sperm quality. Lean red meat, wholegrain cereals, seafood and eggs are good sources of these nutrients.

If you want to read more, here are two good links which you may find useful:

http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/lifestages/trying-for-a-baby
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/life_preconcpreg.shtml

Until next time....
Helen

Hi again,

Your baby’s first Christmas is a magical time for them and for you. It’s a time when you can re-live some of the wonderful traditions that you grew up with at this time of year and maybe even introduce some new ones. Of course your little one will probably be too young to appreciate it all, but will undoubtedly enjoy the lights and sparkling decorations, the extra attention of family and friends, and of course the presents (or more specifically what they’re  wrapped up in!).

With everything that’s going on it might be quite hard but do try and keep your baby’s routine as close to normal at this time. Babies prefer it this way and they (and you) will stay calmer and happier as a result. There’s no need to splash out on extravagant presents when they’re tiny (and as a mother of 3 teenagers I can assure you their requests will get more costly as they get older so hold onto your money while you can!). And remember to take lots of photos of these special times.

Continue with your normal mealtime routine, but why not offer them a Christmas Day menu?  For breakfast, try HiPP Apple & Cranberry Breakfast (either on its own or added to baby’s normal cereal); a Christmas lunch from HiPP's selection of festive recipes, followed by a fruity HiPP dessert; and of course whatever your baby fancies in the evening.

We all hope that you and your baby have a fabulous Christmas!

Helen and the HiPP team.

Hi,

It’s Organic September - time to celebrate everything about organic!  I’ve worked with HiPP for over 12 years now and during this time I have read a lot about organic farming and organic food production and in my opinion there are four main reasons why it is better to choose organic:

1.    Babies are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of unwanted chemicals found in non-organic foods and will benefit from foods containing no GM ingredients or harmful pesticides. 
2.    Organic food is food as nature intended, and often tastes better
3.    Organic foods are often higher in essential nutrients e.g. vitamin C and antioxidants
4.    Organic foods are better for wildlife, animal welfare and the environment.

Some official UK bodies are yet to be convinced on the benefits of organic foods, but there is growing  evidence in Europe and internationally that there are nutritional benefits in choosing organic versus non-organic foods.

The following websites give more information on organic foods and I hope once you’ve had a look at these you will agree that organic foods may well be better for all of us, our wildlife and our environment -

• The Soil Association 
• HiPP Organic - our organic story
• HiPP Organic - why organic is best for your baby

What do you think - do you believe organic foods are better for you and/or your baby? Have you changed your mind on this recently?  Or do you think organic foods are an unaffordable or unnecessary luxury?  We’d love to hear your views.

All the best,
Helen

Hi Everyone,

Not a week goes by without hearing something in the news about the rising problem of obesity in this country. It’s something we should all be concerned about, especially when you hear how many children are affected. Around one third of all children in the UK are currently above a healthy weight and this number is increasing year on year. It’s estimated that by 2050, two thirds of children will be obese or overweight.

There are of course some serious consequences of being obese, including an increased risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other health problems. Most parents are understandably keen to ensure that the eating patterns their children develop are healthy ones and I’m often asked by parents if the amounts of foods their babies are eating are normal or whether they are eating too much and at risk of becoming overweight. As I said in my last blog, making sure your baby is active is important too. 

Starting weaning at the correct time and not too early (recommended weaning age is 6 months, although some babies may need weaning earlier, although not before 4 months) is key to reducing obesity risk. Once weaning has started, you should encourage your baby to eat a varied, balanced diet; unhealthy eating can ‘programme’ young children’s tastes for the rest of their lives. Weaning babies on pureed junk food, chocolate bars, crisps and fizzy sugary drinks just isn’t an option!

For more information on a good diet to feed your baby, have a look at these links:

• Advice on healthy eating for babies and toddlers
• Advice on 5-a-day for babies
• The HiPP guide to good food for your little one

Your health visitor will advise you on how often you should get your baby weighed to check they are gaining weight at the correct rate, and if you have any concerns you should have a chat with them.

Goodbye for now.
Helen