Don't make the mistake of feeding your baby solid food too early, and letting them watch TV while eating.

The National Institute of Nutrition signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in nutritional care for the first 1,000 days of life for children within the framework of the workshop - Photo: D.LIEU

This is the sharing of Mr. Tran Thanh Duong, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition at the " Japan - Vietnam Seminar on improving weaning practices in the first 1000 days of life for Vietnamese children " held in Hanoi on September 28.

The workshop was organized by the National Institute of Nutrition in collaboration with other units.

Common mistakes when feeding babies

According to the director of the National Institute of Nutrition, nutrition in the first two years of life contributes to 80% of brain weight and prevents chronic diseases in adulthood.

If the child is well nourished during this stage, he or she can increase in height by 25cm in the first 12 months and 10cm/year in the following year.

Therefore, in the first 2 years of life, a baby can grow up to 35cm in height. The height of a child at this stage will be 1/2 of the adult height. Therefore, parents should build a reasonable diet, supplement vitamins and micronutrients through daily meals to help children stay healthy in the future.

According to Mr. Duong, the mistake many families make when feeding their children solid foods is feeding them too early because they think that breast milk is not enough and that feeding them early will make them stronger.

Pureeing food is a fear of choking, not training children to chew, so they form a habit of sucking. Many families do not feed their children vegetables early or only feed them water without solids (lack of fiber). Not being patient enough to train children to eat a variety of foods or abstaining from certain foods, leads to children being picky eaters and anorexics.

In particular, not focusing on feeding children, letting children watch movies, using phones while eating and forcing children to eat lead to psychological problems in children (fear of eating).

"Nutritionists recommend that children should be given complementary foods from 6 months and in parallel with breastfeeding until 24 months of age.

The diet should be from thin to thick, from little to much, from simple foods with few types of food to diverse foods.

In particular, during the eating process, it is necessary to encourage children and not force them," Mr. Duong recommended.

He also said that although children have been educated about child care in the first 1,000 days of life, the rate of proper child care is not high.

This causes Vietnam to simultaneously deal with three nutritional burdens, including undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiency.

Feed your baby on demand.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on the sidelines of the conference, Ms. Chiharu Tsutsumi, lecturer at the Faculty of Nutrition and Health, Sagami Women's University (Japan) said that parents need to pay attention to their children's needs when starting to feed them solid foods.

Experts recommend weaning babies from 6 months of age and according to their needs - Illustration: NAM TRAN

"There was a time in Japan when it was believed that "eating a lot makes you grow big" was a good thing and there was a competition to give prizes to fat babies.

However, the increasing problem of lifestyle-related diseases (non-communicable diseases, NCDs) has changed the perception of the importance of "eating properly".

The appropriate amount of food depends on each child's physical condition and activity level, and is therefore determined by whether the child's weight and height increase according to the growth curve.

Therefore, if a child's weight and height increase according to the growth curve, there is no need to increase or decrease the child's diet," Ms. Chiharu Tsutsumi shared.

In addition, Ms. Chiharu Tsutsumi also warned that trying to force children to eat will make their meals unpleasant.

At this stage, it is important to teach children that "eating is fun", this creates interest in children "wanting to eat", thereby forming the spirit of "actively exploring new things" in the future.

Mr. Tran Thanh Duong also recommends that mothers should only start giving their children complementary foods when they are 6 months old (180 days old), using a variety of nutritious food sources with at least 4 of the 7 food groups and daily oils and fats.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dung-mac-sai-lam-cho-con-an-giam-qua-som-vua-an-vua-xem-dien-thoai-20240928125646947.htm