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A paleo Alternative to Fruit-min

Alternative to Fruit?

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I hate “food” products that masquerades as healthy and natural.  I fear that well some meaning parents will buy these products for their children, believing that they are giving them healthy nutritious food.

So many products have packaging covered in words like “natural”, “made with real fruit“, “no artificial colours or flavourings” which I think are very misleading.

Alternative to Fruit- Nuggets-min

I've seen so many packaged “fruit snacks” in the supermarket, that are clearly aimed at children.  I'm not even sure that it's appropriate for children to eat a lot of fruit on a daily basis, but the idea of eating a processed fruit alternative seems to be a ridiculous idea.

I've found the ingredients for two of these fruit snacks – they contain a lot more than just fruit!  Along with reconstituted fruit juice, the products also contain high volumes of sugar (presumably fruit doesn't have enough as it is) – even in the form of corn syrup!  They also contain the ever too frequent non-Paleo suspects of “vegetable” oils, “natural” flavourings and other ingredients I certainly don't recognise as whole foods.

Is it really too difficult to give a child Paleo lunch options, such as boiled eggs, olives, real fruit, carrot sticks or coconut?

Nice and Natural Mixed Berry Fruit Snacks Ingredients:

Reconstituted Fruit Juices (65%) (Apple Juice (62%), Strawberry Juice (3%) or Raspberry Juice (3%) or Blackcurrant juice(3%) or Blueberry Juice (3%)), Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Gelatine (Halal), Food Acid (Citric Acid), Gelling Agent (Agar), Natural Flavours, Starch (Maize), Glazing Agent (Vegetable Oil, Carnauba Wax), Natural Colours (Turmeric, Carmine, Anthocyanin).

Florida's Natural All'some Fruit Nuggets Ingredients:

Fruit Juices & Purees (90%) (Pear Juice from Concentrate (68%), Pear Puree from Concentrate (20%), Strawberry Juice from Concentrate (1%), Blueberry Juice from Concentrate (1%)), Natural Raw Sugar (5%), Tapioca Starch, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Apple Fibre, Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate), Natural Strawberry Flavouring, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Gelling Agent (Pectin), Natural Colour (Anthocyanins), Glazing Agent (Carnauba Wax), Corn Maltodextrin.

What do you think about processed foods like these being marketed as a good, natural alternative for children?

A paleo Alternative to Fruit-min

Paleo school lunches dinners UK healthy government free-min

Paleo school lunches – dream on!

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I'm recently back from the UK, where a lot of my friends have young children. I was interested to learn about a new rule in the England, where children aged between four and seven (reception, year one and year two) are now all eligible for a free school lunch.

Paleo school lunches dinners UK healthy government free-min

The idea behind this, is a great one. I gather a significant number of young children were sent to school with a lunch box of processed junk. The same children aren’t likely to go home to a good meal either. By giving all children a hot school dinner, at least we can be certain they are getting at least one good meal a day.

There has been a lot of research on the issue, which has shown children getting a regular “healthy” meal concentrate better and perform better academically.

Whilst packed lunches are still allowed, obviously for financial and social reasons, children taking that option are likely to be in the minority.

Free School Lunches Dinners Policy UK

It all sounds great

Well yes, it does all sound like a great idea. Until one of my friends showed me the kinds of food on the “healthy” school dinner menus. Of course (and how could I have expected it to be any different) the offerings are based on conventional wisdom and the good old food pyramid.

That’s right, make sure children get their six (SIX!) daily serves of grains (especially wholegrains) – and watch out for those bad saturated fats!

Here are some of the meal plans for the free school lunches:

Paleo-Free-UK-School-Dinner-Lunches-Healthy-Menu-Plans

So whilst there’s a balance of lots of different types of food – aren’t they carb heavy? With options like pizza AND potatoes, pasta bake AND garlic bread and even Macaroni cheese and bread – there seems to be quite a lack protein and fat.

What’s the answer?

Clearly nothing is going to change until the government see sense on the food pyramid. And when almost all of the school children will be eating the free school dinners, I’m sure it would be very difficult to go against the flow and insist your child takes in a homemade packed lunch.

If you’ve got children, I’d love to know what their school lunch policy is and what you do about it. Please share in the comments, below.

In case you couldn't read the photo, here are the main course school lunch options in full:

• Loaded vegetable pizza with new potatoes and garden peas
• Lentil pasta layer with mixed vegetables
• Spaghetti Bolognese with sweetcorn
• Sweet potato & cheddar cheese whirls with country style potatoes & broccoli florets
• Roast chicken with gravy, stuffing, roast potatoes and spring cabbage
• Quorn fillet with roast potatoes and carrots
• Tempura fish goujons with crispy herb and baked beans
• Cheese and potato pie with green beans
• Cumberland sausages with gravy mashed potatoes and sweetcorn
• Roasted vegetable filled Yorkshire pudding with mashed potato and baked tomatoes
• Mediterranean vegetable pasta bake with garlic bread and vegetable medley
• Jacket potato filled with Boston beans and broccoli florets
• Savoury pork pies with crispy herb potatoes and baked beans
• Frittata with crispy herb potatoes and vegetable medley
• British roast beef with gravy, roast potatoes and cauliflower
• Vegetable crumble with roast potatoes and green beans
• Salmon fish fingers with lemon mayonnaise, potato wedges and garden peas
• Cheese ploughmans with carrot and orange salad
• Chicken fajita wrap with potato salad and mixed salad
• Quorn sausage and tomato roll with potato salad and sweetcorn salsa
• Quorn balls in tomato sauce with spaghetti and garden peas
• Cheese and onion pasty with mashed potatoes, homemade tomato sauce and roasted summer vegetables
• Reggae Reggae chicken with cous cous and sweetcorn
• Margherita pizza with coleslaw
• Roast pork with gravy, apple sauce, roast potatoes and cabbage
• Country bake with roast potatoes and carrots
• Chilli beef with rice and mixed vegetables
• Macaroni cheese with herby bread and broccoli
• Baked fish with country style potatoes and garden peas
• Vegetarian stack with country style potatoes and green beans

Paleo giveaway competition prize draw enter

GIVEAWAY! Win a free copy of IQS Kids Book!

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It's giveaway time!

I'm going to be giving one reader a free copy of the new I Quit Sugar Kids Cookbook!

This book is exactly what you need if you're trying to get your children eating healthily but are struggling for ideas and inspiration. In the beautiful book you'll find:

  • 85+ fructose-free party recipes, breakfast ideas, lunchbox snacks and afternoon treats.
  • Handy conversion widgets, substitution charts plus a shopping list generator.
  • Safe sweeteners and how to use them.
  • Tips and tricks from experts and health-conscious parents.
  • Ideas to get the kids involved in cooking and growing their own food.

IQS Digital Kids Cookbook-min

 

How To Win?

 

To win a free copy of this ebook* all you have to do is leave a comment below or on the facebook post with your top paleo kids idea or tip. It could be a healthy snack idea, a school lunch tip, a paleo baby weaning idea, or perhaps a fun way you've found to get your children to eat more veggies.

So what's your top idea for paleo friendly children's ideas? Leave your comment below.

The winner will be selected at random from all comments left (both on this page and on the facebook page) by midnight 27th April and I'll announce the winner on the 28th April! Good luck – and keep the tips and ideas coming!

You can find out more about the I Quit Sugar Kids Cookbook here

*Please note that this is a digital book – I'll send the winner the file which can be read on any computer or ereader device
Fertilise Yourself eBook Nat Kringoudis-min

Fertilise Yourself – The Natural Fertility Guide

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I was so inspired when I met Natalie Kringoudis at the Low Carb Down Under seminar series a few months ago. Natalie is a fertility guru, and Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncturist. She spoke at the Melbourne seminar about Fertility, and how so many couples who appear to be infertile, are able to conceive, by making changes to their diet and lifestyle.

She spoke at length about the difficulties many couples encounter, and how conditions like Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), can make it a lot harder for some women to conceive. It’s really refreshing to see a completely natural approach to health issues, instead of immediately reaching for medical intervention – when in some cases diet and lifestyle can make all the difference.

Natalie has a centre for Women’s Health & Natural Fertility in Melbourne, Australia – and has written an ebook, “Fertilise Yourself”, to help even more people.

Fertilise Yourself eBook Nat Kringoudis-min

 

Fertilise Yourself is a complete “how to” ebook, breaking down the foods that will help – and hinder your fertility. It also includes recipes to help build fertility and a fertility shopping list. The ebook is packed with advice on natural fertility, that you won’t find any where else. “Fertilise Yourself” is designed to help anyone get fertility fit, as even if you aren’t looking to conceive yet, fertility is an indicator of overall health. It’s never too soon to start to prepare your body for fertility.

So, if you’re looking for natural ways to improve your overall health and wellbeing, hormones and fertility – you might be interested to check out “Fertilise Yourself” here.

I’d love to hear your comments on the link between fertility and diet and lifestyle choices. Did adopting a Paleo diet help you?

 

79 paleo kids lunch ideas-min

79 Paleo Children’s Lunch Ideas

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Going Paleo yourself is the easy bit – getting the rest of your family on board can be more of a challenge. Little wonder than, that Paleo ideas for children’s school lunches is one of the top things I'm asked about. I've therefore come up with 79 different options for the kids school lunch box…

I've also written the “Paleo Lunch Recipe Book“, so take a look if you'd like lots of lunch recipes to brighten up your lunchtimes!

Paleo lunch cover
The school dinners served in so many schools seem to follow the government guidelines – and the food pyramid – and are often low fat, high in refined carbs and lacking in protein. Add to this the industrial seed oils, the feed-lock meat of dubious origin and highly processed nature of many school meals, it’s little wonder more and more parents opt to send their kids to school with a home-made packed lunch.

I've read about some schools (in America) banning parents from sending their children in with food from home, to make sure the children eat the “healthy” school lunch – and don’t bring in bad food from home. Whilst I'm sure some parents do pack complete junk – I hope this move doesn't become widespread, as it would put Paleo parents in a very difficult position.

Depending on the age of your child, and whether they’re in kindergarten, nursery, preschool, primary school – or are older, you’ll need to tweak your lunch offering accordingly. Some schools have blanket bans on any nuts in case of allergies, which would unfortunately rule out nuts, nut butters and many baked paleo goods (if they used nut flours). Hopefully your school rules and regulations won’t place too many restrictions on your kids and what you can bring…

Another key consideration is temperature. If you’re packing meat, you’ll want it to stay cool, so it’s a good idea to pack it with an ice pack in an insulated lunch box. Likewise, try a thermos flask if you want to serve hot foods like soup.

In terms of containers, whilst Tupperware and plastic lunch boxes do the job, my favourites are lunchbots stainless steel bento boxes. They’re easy to clean, light and won’t smash if dropped – and of course BPA free. Glass containers aren't ideal for school – and brown bags aren't so good for non-dry foods!

By getting the kids involved in choosing their lunch ingredients – and helping to pack them, they are far more likely to enjoy their lunch. Remember – it’s also better to overpack than under pack, this way if your child gets hungry, they’ll have their own food to eat, and you won’t risk the school giving them junk.

79 paleo kids lunch ideas-min

Making sure lunch is colourful, varied and well presented (you can even get bento cutters to cut vegetables into fun shapes), your children are less likely to be bothered that they aren't eating the same as their SAD eating school friends. Including cocktail sticks and dips, is another way to introduce an element of fun to lunchtimes.

As a general rule, base lunch around the protein source (this is what will keep them going after lunch!), then choose a fat source – and fill up with vegetables and fruit. Fruit and carby veggies like sweet potatoes are often a good bet for children, who need a lot of ready energy.

Leftovers are obviously a great bet for lunch – but here are some other ideas:

Wraps and Sandwiches

There is no bread in any of these sandwich options! Make wraps using a flat wrap, around your child’s favourite filling. Some good wraps are:

  • Nori (seaweed) wraps
  • Coconut wraps
  • Ham
  • Sliced deli turkey
  • Sliced beef
  • Salami
  • You can even use bacon as a wrap!
  • Romaine, lettuce or cabbage are also good to use

If your wrap won’t stay shut, use a fresh chive, green onion or blanched scallion green to tie a knot around the wrap, keeping it in place.

  • You can make sandwiches using a coconut flour or almond meal paleo bread recipe.

If you’re after something more alternative to sandwich a filling between, how about:

Some other ideas along these lines include:

  • Cheese (if your child tolerates dairy) on crackers – using dehydrated sweet potato slices as crackers
  • Paleo sushi using nori and cauliflower rice

Protein Options

Protein is key, so try some of these options in your kid’s lunchbox:

  • Canned wild salmon
  • A tin of sustainable tuna
  • Pepperoni
  • Beef jerky
  • Leftover roast chicken/ beef/ pork with sauce
  • Meatballs in a tomato sauce
  • Chicken drumsticks with dips
  • Pork strips, pork crackling (serve with home-made apple sauce)
  • Meat and Veggie wooden skewers
  • Crispy chicken with a tomato dip
  • A burger patty served with sweet potato fries (assuming your child will enjoy this cold!)
  • Paleo sausages (get your butcher to make a batch up for you)
  • Peeled hard boiled eggs (serve with bacon and avocado to make a breakfast at lunchtime!)

Something Special

For something a bit different, how about these ideas?

  • A nice warm soup in a thermos
  • A slice of Paleo pizza
  • Crustless quiches (or egg muffins)
  • Dates wrapped in prosciutto
  • Cherry tomatoes stuffed with salmon and feta (if Primal)
  • Pigs in blankets

The Paleo Recipe Book

Salads

Salads are a good summer option:

  • Chicken salad with home made Paleo mayonnaise
  • A simple egg salad

Natural Fat Sources

If the rest of lunch is looking a bit low on fat, add in one of these:

  • An avocado (and a spoon!)
  • Some olives
  • Some fresh coconut

A Fermented Side

A portion of fermented food is another great kids lunch idea:

  • Kimchi
  • Sauerkraut
  • Fermented pickles

Veggies

Veggies are a great way to finish off the lunch box. Fill it with:

  • Fingers of carrots, celery, capsicum (bell peppers), broccoli, cauliflower & cucumber and dips
  • Celery halves, with nut butter in the groove.

Kids Dips

With almost all of the lunch options, dips and sauces are great to provide on the side. Try making these:

Child Friendly Fruit

Fruit is another good group to choose from. How about:

  • Banana
  • Cherries
  • Cut watermelon
  • Grapes
  • Apple and cheese (if Primal)
  • Fruit on a wooden stick
  • Apple and almond butter stacks

Dried Fruit

For a very sweet treat, dried fruit is a nice option:

  • Dried apples
  • Dried mango
  • Dates
  • Raisins or sultans (be very careful with the ingredients – many brands use “vegetable” oil!)

Chips

When lots of your child's friends may be having chips (crisps), perhaps your child might enjoy something similar?

Something Chocolatey

A very small portion of one of these, is a good occasional treat:

Yoghurts/ Creamy treats

Some other good options for a sweet treat:

  • Berries & cream (if your child has dairy), or
  • Berries in coconut cream (or coconut milk)
  • Coconut yoghurt
  • Plain Greek yoghurt (if Primal) with fruit and nuts

A few more lunch treats

A few final treats to occasionally include in your child’s lunchbox:

  • Home-made Larabars
  • Grain free granola
  • Coconut flakes
  • Coconut flour muffins
  • Paleo trail mix
  • A mix of almonds, dark chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

What're I missed? I'd love to hear what you pack for lunch – and what you child is most excited to be given? Also, how does your child deal with peer pressure (if it exists at their school)?

Are We Too Developed paleo diet Indonesia-min

Are We Too Developed?

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I've just returned from an amazing trip to Indonesia (I went to Bali, the Gili Islands and Lombok), which turned out to be a great Paleo adventure. As a “developing Country” I was surprised how many differences I noticed compared to how things are done here, in the “developed” World. The surprising thing was how many of these differences actually seemed far better in Indonesia. Perhaps being “developed” in not such a good thing after all?

Indonesia-Paleo-Diet-The-Land-680x450-min

Pregnancy, babies and children in Indonesia

I spent all of my time in small villages, completely off the tourist track. In all of my time, I did not see a single pram/ pushchair/ stroller (whatever you like to call it!). Babies too young to walk were tied to their mothers side by a piece of material and their weight supported by the mothers arm. Whilst pavements aren't suitable for pushchairs (thanks to lots of open drainage holes), this does seem to be a far more sensible way of transporting a baby around, don’t you think?

In the “developed” world you always see mothers distractedly pushing along a pram. Often the pram is completely covered by a rain protector and you can’t even see the infant. The mother is busy chatting on her phone or rushing to her destination. I can’t help but wonder how much better it is for the Indonesian babies, who are constantly in physical contact with their family.

Whilst I don’t doubt a pram is very convenient and get for carrying shopping bags, is it best for the baby? I also regularly see rather old toddlers being pushed around, when surely they should be encouraged to walk.

The other striking difference I noticed was that the Indonesian children were given far more freedom then their counterparts in the developed World. They seemed to have a lot more free reign to explore, without being permanently attached to the apron strings.

Indonesia-Paleo-Diet-Babies-Children-680x450-min

I was impressed to see one young mother weaning her baby, by chewing up food herself, before feeding it to her baby. I didn't see a steriliser, jar of baby food, blender or piece of cutlery involved!

I had the opportunity to visit a maternity clinic, which has been set up as a charitable foundation and is supported by volunteers. Compared to a harshly light, sterile busy Western maternity ward, this clinic was far more homely and open planned. In the typical Indonesian style, the delivery rooms were all open at the top of the walls, allowing air (and noise!) to circulate freely. I was interested to hear that women in Indonesia are typically very quiet in delivery, rarely have drugs (epidurals and the like aren't available in the particular clinic I visited) and “100% of women breastfeed”.

Teeth

The other big contract was around teeth and face shape. Almost all of the locals I met had wide faces and the most beautiful teeth I've seen outside of Hollywood. Their teeth were naturally straight, with no crowding – and they were also very white. With a Weston A Price perspective, it seems clear how the right diet helps to form a proper shaped palate – and good teeth.

Indonesia-Perfect-Teeth-Straight-White-Paleo-Diet-WAPF-min

Food in Indonesia

For my whole trip I ate local (I’ll tell you more about the food in Indonesia in a future post). Everything the locals eat can typically be found within a few minutes walk of their home. Most families have a plot of land on which they grow rice for their family and perhaps a few other things. There were chickens everywhere and local markets in most villages for everything else. There are (or course) some Western snacks, but these didn't seem to purchased by the locals at all – and certainly weren't in the types of quantities we see in the Western world.

 

Happiness and Family

Another key observation was that everyone seemed happy, with very little stress! People would work hard to get food (i.e. on the rice paddies), but then they would also spend a lot of time sitting in the shade with their family, chatting. How many people get to do that in the developed world?

Indonesian Women

Oh – and you know some people say women shouldn't lift heavy weights? Try telling the Indonesian women that!

Paleo-Indonesia-Women-Lift-Heavy-things-head-min

What do you think about how they do things in Indonesia? Do you think we’re too developed?

Are We Too Developed paleo diet Indonesia-min

Is a paleo pregnancy safe primal diet pregnant nutrition-min

Is a Paleo Pregnancy Safe?

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Many of the emails I get concern pregnancy, babies and children. It seems Paleo is becoming increasingly popular amongst those trying to conceive and expectant mothers keen to give their baby the best possible start.

I'm commonly asked if Paleo is safe during pregnancy and for breastfeeding mothers. Whilst I don’t have children and am certainly no expert, I always find these types of questions surprising, given that pregnant women have only been eating the current western diet (SAD) for about 33 generations. Of that it’s probably only the last two or three generations that our diet has “progressed” to include the vastly altered wheat most foods contained today, industrial seed oils, HFCS, soy and many of the other horrors that pass for a “balance diet” today. Shouldn't the question be “Is it safe to eat a Western diet when pregnant”

Is a paleo pregnancy safe primal diet pregnant nutrition-min

There are so many drugs and products for pregnant women – are they really necessary given that women have been having babies for thousands of years without needing any of these? It also seems that infertility and other such problems have only increased in recent years.

It must be very difficult for a woman to take a Paleo approach to pregnancy and bringing up a Paleo baby – when so many medical professionals are resolute about conventional wisdom

I was really interested to see Chris Kresser has produced a Paleo “Healthy Baby Code” that will answer all of the questions Pregnant women – or women hoping to conceive. He’s pulled together all of the research into a complete guide with videos, MP3 recordings and PDF transcripts to explain everything about having a healthy baby

If you've got any tips, stories or advice about Paleo pregnancy or anything baby related, please share it here – you never know how much you might end up helping someone out!

Conscious Parenting Summit-min

Conscious Parenting Summit

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One of my readers told me about the Conscious Parenting Summit, which starts today. The talks are free to listen to online for 24 hours; and there seem to be a couple of interviews a day on all sorts of parenting aspects.

Whilst the nutrition seems to be more geared towards raw food than Paleo, the summit talks about a number of issues that seem very relevant to bringing up Paleo Children, such as Pregnancy, Natural Fertility, Water Birth, Lotus Birth, Unassisted Birth, Bonding, Vaccinating, Breastfeeding, Co-Sleeping, Elimination Communication, Non-Violent Communication, Circumcision and Home-schooling/Un-schooling.

So if you have young children, are pregnant, or considering starting a Paleo family, it might be worth checking out the summit!

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners lunches grain free healthy low carb high fat LCHF-min

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners?

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I was really interested to discover a fantastic blog, by a nine year old British schoolgirl, Neverseconds. She’s been taking photos of her school dinners and posting them onto her blog. As someone with a passionate interest in nutrition, but no children, this is such an interesting insight. The blog obviously isn't written from a Paleo standpoint, but it is very interesting to gauge just how far away school dinners are from (what I would deem) optimal.

paleo-school-dinners-lunches

Images from NeverSeconds

For young children, good nutrition is absolutely crucial; they are growing and more importantly their brains are still developing. It’s becoming accepted that fat is extremely important in the nutrition of children; yet these lunches are clearly following the outdated low-fat “wisdom”. I find it concerning that young children eat their dinner staring at a big “LOW FAT” label, such as on the yoghurt. Even subconsciously this will lead to a long, deep held belief that fat must be avoided. As well as fat, the dinners look to be very low in protein too.

I also find the amount of refined carbohydrates concerning. After lunch the children will have grossly elevated blood sugar levels – leading to a crash probably during their next lesson. A crash in blood sugar levels isn't conducive to concentration and alertness!

There are so many processed foods, very little looks entirely home-made (perhaps just reheated). When cooking for large numbers as in a school setting, it should be perfectly possible to cook nutritious lunches from scratch, using local produce, on a budget.

Surely good nutrition should be easy with children? They don’t have a choice and aren't in the position to research and understand about nutrition in the same way adults are. What they eat as a child is likely to set their eating behaviours for life. It is so sad to see how these children are fed, by the very people who should be setting them up with good nutrition.

Do you have school aged children? I’d love to hear what the rules are at their schools – and what they are served. Are you able to insist your child eats Paleo at lunchtimes? How do you navigate a Paleo child and a conventional wisdom school lunch menu?

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners lunches grain free healthy low carb high fat LCHF-min

Paleo baby babies SAD diet nutrition pregnancy pregnant-min

Paleo Babies v SAD Babies

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I went to a first birthday party at the weekend, which was, as you might imagine, crowded with babies, toddlers and small children.  It was actually quite hard to work out which baby went with which grown-up – I’m sure lots of the other guests were probably thinking some belonged to me too!

I've not been around children much since I found Paleo, but knew the whole junk food thing was likely to be an issue with small children.  However, what I saw, was very different to what I was expecting.  And sadly, not in a good way.

I expected to see babies picking food up from the floor and putting it in their mouth.  I expected to see toddlers demanding brightly coloured and attractively presented party food.  I expected to see some children being given junk food and some children being given real food.

What I saw was far more upsetting.

The infants were interested in gaining possession of the squeaky giraffe.  Opening the door.  Closing the door.  Opening the door.  Closing the door.  Sliding on the wooden floor.  My car keys.  Trying to reach the toy at the very bottom of the toy box.  They were not interested in the party food.  A few of the babies were interested in the shiny colourful chip packets, but not the contents.

The-Hand-That-Feeds-paleo babies SAD baby

The parents however, continually gave the small children chips and biscuits and sweets.  The children didn't ask – the parents just gave.  The parents genuinely seemed to think they were being kind, giving the children something nice at a party.  When given this food the children stopped their exploring, ate the food – clearly enjoying it (it’s designed to taste good after all) – and either resumed their playing, or indicated they wanted more.  Hardly surprising once they’d been given that first taste.

What I was most shocked about was seeing parents giving party “food” to other people’s small children.  In fact, this seemed to happen before they gave the food to their own child.  It seemed to be done as an act of good manners, much like opening the door for someone instead of going through it yourself, first.  I didn't once see a parent ask another parent if it would be ok to offer the toddler some (soy!) chips.  I didn't see any parents looking concerned that someone else was giving their child party “food” either.

I would have loved to have seen the blood sugar levels of these babies throughout the party.  Lots of the babies started to get tired and irritable towards the end of the party, which seemed expected and normal by the parents.  I can’t help wondering how much of this was “normal” and how much was impacted by the huge (especially relative to their small size) sugar rush they’d been fed.  Do strict Paleo-fed babies get over-tired as regularly, I wonder?

One mother decided her baby was teething and needed to chew on a breadstick to help, offering breadsticks to any other babies who might have the same complaint.  I'm quite sure our ancestors got through cutting teeth without the need for bread; wouldn't bones be something more effective to chew on in this situation?  Surely giving a teething baby bread, just creates other problems?

I realise when you have children you can’t control what other parents do.  But I thought you’d be in complete control of what your own child ate.  Are you supposed to make a speech at the start of a party, expressly forbidding any well-meaning friends from feeding your child?  Should you hand out cards to everyone with these rules?  Does someone sell baby-grows with the slogan “Don't Feed Me!  I'm Paleo”?

Paleo baby babies SAD diet nutrition pregnancy pregnant-min

I imagine it’s could be hard to explain to other parents why you don’t want your child to eat grains, sugars, dairy and processed foods.  Particularly when talking to parent who feeds their child a CW “healthy” diet of organic whole grains and low fat foods.  I’d hate to be perceived to be criticising other parents – though I guess this is exactly what I am doing in this post!  Perhaps I would take the cowardly way out and pretend my child had severe allergies to gluten and dairy.  People often seem to be a lot more sympathetic about allergies than they are about choosing to omit certain “food” groups.

I think my main issue is that at such a young age children are completely dependent on their parents for their nutritional requirements.  It’s also, I’d imagine, the most crucial stage in their development.  I just wish more parents would understand that their baby has no requirement for grains or processed foods.  They've never had them before – they don’t know what they taste like – they certainly don’t crave chips!  Once a child is old enough to think logically for themselves I think a degree of responsibility can pass over to them for their nutrition.  But this certainly doesn't happen before they can run – or even walk!

I can’t remember if it was Sarah Fragoso or Chrissy Gower speaking at the Ancestral Health Symposium last year about their children and eating Paleo.  One of the was describing how her child had been strictly Paleo since birth and the lady at the check-out had commented on her surprise that the child was not asking for candy.  She replied that her child didn't know what it was, having never had it before.  This really got me thinking, if you don’t know what something is, you won’t miss it – or need it.  I think there is an argument to let older children try SAD food, but when the child is so young they can’t even speak or walk, I absolutely think these foods should be strictly absent from their diet.

Anyway, I don’t have children.  What would I know?  Perhaps when I do I’ll realise how completely impractical and ridiculous my nutrition ideas are and start buying bulk packs of bread sticks and cereal with pictures of cartoon characters on the box.  I kind of doubt it though.

I’d love to hear your comments on this.  If you have small children, how do you deal with other parents?  Is it common for other well meaning adults to feed your child?