A boy eats a squeeze bag/ShutterStock
"Frequent use of feeding babies from pacifier bags may have harmful effects, both from a developmental, health and environmental and economic point of view," the Israeli Ministry of Health announced this week, similar to similar publications by health organizations around the world.
"Soother food bags are seen as "healthy food", allow flexibility for parents and offer "portable nutrition" suitable for the busy lifestyle that exists today in many families."
The position paper of the Ministry of Health recommends "avoid serving babies and toddlers with pacifier food bags as a routine. If you do feed babies and toddlers with pacifier food bags, transfer the contents to a container and allow eating with a spoon."
In order to promote a healthy diet and eating patterns and proper feeding relationships, the Ministry of Health recommends "exposing babies and young children to a large variety of foods with different textures and tastes individually so that the baby experiences the unique taste of each food by eating with a spoon, with the hands and not by sucking on food. It is important to encourage eating independently and to deal with the challenges of eating. Encourage babies and young children to eat as part of family meals where raw foods and/or home-cooked foods are served, reduce as much as possible the serving of processed foods. Acceptable eating utensils should be used such as: a spoon, a plate, a cup, a fork."
The harmful effects of pacifier food bags, in the nutritional aspect
may contribute a significant amount of sugar to the daily menu of babies and toddlers.
The processing process may change the composition and availability of nutrients.
may affect the composition of the intestinal bacteria (microbiome).
cause a lack of exposure to the fruit and vegetable's appearance, smell and texture.
Makes it difficult for babies and young children to identify tastes, textures and appearance of individual fruits and vegetables.
Reduces the likelihood that fruits and vegetables will be accepted by infants and young children when served individually.
It is important that they eat with a spoon/ShutterStock
Not just nutritional problems
Beyond the nutritional aspect, as written in the position paper and less well known and known to the general public, the transition period of the babies to complementary feeding is critical for the development of mature oro-motor eating patterns.
The motor learning process for self-feeding requires coordination (the ability to coordinate eye-hand) and precision of the movement to bring the food to the mouth.
Complex oromotor movements are actually "speech-like", chewing food helps to strengthen the jaw muscles and thus enables speech and chewing.
"Exposing babies and small children to a variety of textures with the help of a spoon or through independent eating, allows essential interaction between parents and children, listening and dialogue, as well as monitoring and learning hunger and satiety signals," it says.
In the position paper, it was stated that "increased consumption of sugars will cause overeating, therefore increasing the risk of overweight, obesity and related diseases. Eating pacifiers may lead to picky eating later in life. Also, increased consumption of sugar from pacifier bags may cause damage to the teeth: tooth decay and erosion of Enamel in the teeth, as well as pacifier food bags have harmful environmental effects: exposure to disposable bags, exposure to plastic particles that have an impact on the health of babies and young children."
The position paper was written under the leadership of the Health Bureau at the Ministry of Health: Einat Ofir and Shani Barzilai, clinical nutritionists and with the best professionals who care for babies and children: pediatricians, clinical nutritionists for children, nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, dentists and more.
Nira Feldman is a clinical nutritionist for children, coordinator of the field of child nutrition at Maccabi Health Services and a partner in the writing team of the position paper of the Ministry of Health.
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