Please Pass the Salt

Saturday Brooks was not himself and John had rehearsal, we were going over for lunch anyway and ended up just staying. It's a good environment for him there, lots to look at, different people, rehearsal, and TONS of natural light.

I didn't bring dinner with us, so I ran out to the grocery to pick something us for all. I decided to check out the baby food section to see if there was a meal that Brooks could eat. I admit this was TOTALLY selfish, since I really wanted chicken parmesan and a) didn't want to share b) it wasn't the healthiest for him. There wasn't anything no pureed in the organic section so I went to the regular baby food aisle. There I found several options, carrots, turkey sticks and other vegetables. I picked one up to check out the ingredients and nutritional information, that's when I saw 255mg of sodium in the carrots, 265 for the meat. I was amazed, the organic meal I had an entire lasagna dinner 55mg of sodium.

One of the first things I remember reading when we started Baby Led Weaning was the amount of sodium a baby should have. I also looked up and asked his doctor how much sodium he should have a day, anywhere between 325-600mg is good. So now I'm standing in the grocery shocked and amazed by the amount of sodium in the carrots, JUST CARROTS!!!! I was so upset for so many reasons.

First, the non organic food is 49cents per jar, versus the organic at 99cents. If you have to cut back on your grocery bill or don't know to look at nutritional information, what are you going to chose?

Secondly, there is no reason for the vegetables to have so much salt. Babies kidneys can't process that much. It also puts the taste of salt in their mouths so they become accustomed. As they grow and mature what do they want...SALT! I can't believe that this is not a correlation to childhood obesity.

On a positive note, parents have several options now. I understand giving your child what you are eating may not be your cup of tea or may not work with your lifestyle. You can easily and quickly make your child's food in advance by making purees and freezing them. My personal favorite of Baby Led Weaning or organic baby food options. We just need to educate people out there, and remain vigilant for our children's health.

Oh and Tyler Florence has a line of baby food called Sprout, it's the one we bought the other night. Brooks LOVED it. I got a few more pouches to keep around, in case we are out and about and what we're eating doesn't work for him.