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CARE
DURING PREPARATION
Should any special care be taken during
preparation?
The nutritive value of many weaning foods
can be improved by taking due care during preparation. The porridge or for that matter any
other weaning food should not be excessively watered down or thinned in the belief
that it will be easier to ingest and digest. A classic example of this is the thin
‘dal’ water. Even small babies can easily tolerate semi-solid foods and over
dilution results in loss of valuable calories.
Unnecessary loss of nutrients should be
avoided. For instance, it is better to wash vegetables whole before cutting them into
small pieces. The smaller the piece, the greater is the loss of nutrients. Use the minimum
amount of water for cooking and mash the food with the water used for cooking. Adding
excess water and draining it off later results in loss of water-soluble nutrients and
should be avoided.
Husks, bean skin and vegetable fibers can
cause indigestion, so everything must be thoroughly mashed in the beginning.
SUMMARY
The food at this time does not need to be
mashed but, if required, can be chopped or pounded. A variety of household foods can be
given five or six times a day, such as rice, dal, roti or khichri and the quantity can be
gradually increased. Idli, upma or curd rice is popular in the south. A variety of
vegetables and seasonal fruits can also be given. Foods like curd, egg, kheer and bread
can be included. Egg can be given either in boiled or scrambled form. Raw eggs should be
avoided to prevent Salmonella infection. Fish or minced meat can also be added in
non-vegetarian families.
Sample feed: ½ a bowl of mashed
cereal foods, vegetables (finger foods), potato, leafy vegetable, red and orange
vegetables, boiled/fried egg (but mashed), Mashed piece of fish (before adding masala). At
least 4 times a day.
By the time your baby is a year old he
should be taking:
- Milk2 to 3 cups
- Dal2 tablespoons
- Egg1 no.
- Or Meat/Fish2 tablespoons
- Cooked green or yellow vegetables2 tablespoons
- Other vegetables including potatoes2 tablespoons
- Fruit for Vitamin C1 serving
- Other fruit¼ cup
- Rice¼ cup (cooked)
- Chapati/bread½ to 1 Chapati or slice bread
- Butter/ghee Vanaspati 1 teaspoon
- Fish liver oilEnough to supply 5 mcg (200 IU) vitamin D
Foot notes
- Keep breast feeding the child till 1 years of age at least, and even during illness.
- Drinks during weaning –boiled and cooled water according to thirst.
- During illness feed the child as normal, even if the child resists.
- During diarrhoea – give lot of fluids to the child, in
fact replace each bout of stools with a glass (250 ml) of clean boiled water
CALORIE DENSE FOODS
Malting
To meet the increased demands of calorie
and protein, well cooked mashed cereals mixed with milk and sugar can be given. Calorie
dense cereals can be prepared by malting; also, sprouted pulses and beans can be
used. Cereals like wheat, bajra, ragi, jowar, and pulses like moong (whole) can be malted.
How is the food malted?
- Soak overnight.
- Remove the water and tie in the moist cloth and keep in warm place (Sprouting).
- After 48 hours when sprouts come out dry in sun or roast it.
- Make into flour.
Advantages
- During the process of malting, starch is converted to maltose due to increased
production of enzyme amylase. Thus, this is also called Amylase Rich Food. Due to the
conversion of starch into amylose, thinner gruels are made. With this either the infant
can consume more gruel or more flour can be added to make thick gruel. This way calorie
consumption can be increased.
- Also, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of malted cereal, added to porridge, khichri and other weaning
foods, will reduce its viscosity and child will be able to eat a larger quantity of it.
This is a very good way of increasing energy density of weaning foods.
- The malting process increases the riboflavin, niacin content. Sprouting various pulses
and beans increase the content of vitamin B group and vitamin C.
- A major advantage of preparation of these energy dense foods is that they are
pre-cooked. Thus, these cereals in powdered form can be stored in airtight bottles. They
can be mixed with boiled water, cooked for a few minutes and fed to the baby.
However, these foods should not form the
major feeds throughout the day, but given 1-2 times in the whole day. This is because the
child should become familiar with various common foods and develop a taste for all foods
and not reject them later.
As the shelf life is short, malting has to
be done every three or four weeks.
Various
food preparations from these malted foods
Foods:
Cereals like wheat, bajra,
jowar, can be malted. Ragi malt is a common weaning food in the southern parts of India
where ragi is commonly eaten.
Other cereals like rice, rice flakes, corn
flakes, can also be roasted and powdered and given in the form of porridge.
Pulses like moong (whole) can be
malted as it is easy to digest. Roasted and powdered moong dal can be used in porridge.
Nuts: Roasted and ground peanuts (1
tsp.)can be given to children at the age of 9 months.
Vegetables: boiled and mashed soft
vegetables can be added to the porridges. For e.g. tomato, gourds, spinach and other green
leafy vegetables.
Egg: Hard cooked egg yolk can
be added to the various porridges.
- Milk powder (2 tbsp ) can be added to the porridge if it is going to be made in water.
- Little sugar and oil / butter (1tsp.) can be added to the porridge to increase the
calorie content.
Suggested recipes from energy dense
foods:
Add all ingredients and cook for a
few minutes by adding water or milk to a semi solid / mashed consistency
- Plain porridge
Bajra 2 tbsp.
Chana dal 2 tbsp.
- Riceflakes porridge
Rice flakes (ground) 2 tbsp.
Peanuts 1 tbsp
- Fruit porridge
Rawa 2 tbsp.
Add a banana/fruit after boiling
- Apple porridge
Rice 2 tbsp.
Apple boiled ½ no.
- Veg porridge
Bajra 2 tbsp.
Peanuts 1tsp.
Masoor/tur 1 tbsp.
Carrot/Veg. 2 tbsp.
- Tomato porridge
Bajra 2 tbsp.
Rice powder 2 tsp.
Peanuts 1 tsp.
Tur dal 1tbsp.
Tomato (boiled)1 tbsp.
- Paratha
Bajra 2 tbsp.
Peanut 2tsp
Masoor/Tur/Chana 1 tbsp
Potato (boiled) 2 tbsp
Oil 1 tsp
Mix all ingredients
Make dough and roast as Paratha
Substitute cereal with wheat, jowar, and ragi.
Substitute potato with spinach, other vegetables.
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