Should you use baby oil for weaning?

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At the beginning of weaning, there are many misconceptions that many parents make, which is to underestimate the role of adding cooking oil in the daily diet. This can affect the child's development. In addition, improper use of baby oil for solid foods can affect the development of children and reduce the absorption of some necessary micronutrients for the body.

1. What are the types of baby oil for weaning?

Baby cooking oil here can include vegetable oil or fish oil and is classified as a food group that provides essential fats for the body along with other products such as fat, butter, cheese.. Cooking oil also belongs to a group of very important nutrients, playing a major role in providing energy for children, helping to form fat tissue with the function of regulating body temperature, and at the same time helping to absorb a certain amount of food. Some important vitamins for the body are taken easily and quickly. With these uses, cooking oil cannot be missed in children's diets.
Moreover, for children cooking oil is the main source of energy, because the amount of food used by children in the weaning stage is quite small, and the child's energy needs are high, so children who eat cooking oil have a high demand. taller than adults to meet daily needs.
1 gram of oil provides 9kcal, so cooking oil is indispensable in children's meals. If the baby is under 6 months, then the baby is exclusively breastfed and the fat quality in milk accounts for 50% of energy. From the time the baby starts to eat solid foods, the quality of fat in the child's diet must also be about 40 to 45% and the cooking oil for 6-month-old baby needs to be supplemented quite high. But for children under 1 year of age, the energy content provided by fat must be over 40% and for children 1 year old, the total fat in the diet provides about 30 to 35% of energy.
When children eat low in fat, it can cause many effects on children's development such as slow growth or slow weight gain due to lack of energy in the diet. Moreover, a diet lacking in oil can cause children not to fully absorb micronutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin E, etc., which can lead to rickets, growth retardation, and even growth retardation. Children in the first years of life develop rapidly both physically and mentally, so if there is a lack of nutrients and fats in the daily diet, it can affect their function. of many organs in the body, especially the nervous system.
What is the difference between oil and grease? In fact, both of these foods have a role in providing energy but differ in their fatty acid composition. Vegetable oils contain many essential polyunsaturated fatty acids but very little polyunsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids can have many important roles in the body. But food oil does not contain cholesterol like animal fat, especially this substance is quite abundant in fatty fish liver and some animals living in the sea. But fat contains many fat-soluble vitamins, arachidonic acid necessary for the body. And cholesterol content in fat is also necessary for children.
So what good oil should be given to the baby? For children at the age of weaning, in addition to using vegetable oils, oils extracted from fish fat, liver, fish... because they contain a lot of omega 3 fatty acids, DHA, EPA are very good for development children's brains.

2. How to use baby oil for baby food?

During the first 6 months of life, babies are often nourished with precious breast milk. The fat content of breast milk can provide enough for the growing baby at this stage without the need to add cooking oil. However, when children start to enter the weaning stage, at this time, processed foods for children need to ensure that there are enough 4 food groups. Therefore, cooking oil begins to be used regularly from this age onwards.
Children under 2 years old are considered to be in the period when they need a lot of energy to develop and perfect the internal organs of the body. Therefore, ensuring the fat content in the child's diet is also quite high. Depending on age, this content will vary up to 30% of dietary energy and this content may increase higher depending on specific age. Children's food at this stage is mainly liquid food, so to increase the energy density of the meal, parents should add cooking oil to these foods. Moreover, the addition of oil to the food makes the food have a consistency and helps children enjoy the food more.
When a child is 2 years old, the rate of development may slow down. Most children now have teeth to perform the skills of chewing and swallowing. At this time, children can use dishes with the family. Children's food at this stage is quite rich with many dishes. Therefore, the amount of cooking oil in the diet for children at this stage also increases or decreases depending on the processing method and eating preferences. At this stage, if the child is underweight or malnourished, parents can add more cooking oil to the diet by preparing stir-fried dishes. Conversely, if the child is already fat, it is necessary to reduce the amount of oil in the child's diet.
Supplementing baby dog ​​food for weaning by:
Directly adding to the child's bowl of porridge or powdered bowl. It can be done no more than 4 days/week and no more than 2 meals/day. The amount of oil used per day should not exceed 4 teaspoons with a capacity of 2.5ml. For children over 3 years old, it is not recommended to use cooking oil such as frying or putting on soup when the stove is off so that the child does not feel bored when using these types of dishes. This dish also helps children absorb natural fats from food. The amount of cooking oil used per day is not more than 4 teaspoons.

3. Choosing baby oil for weaning

The cooking oil used should be safe for health. Therefore, the selection of cooking oil needs to ensure the following criteria:
Cooking oil needs to be considered in terms of whether the refining technology is guaranteed or not. Because of the new rigorous refining technology, the oil product is of absolute pure quality, safe for the health and heart of the user. Choosing a good oil for the heart with the criterion of cholesterol content in the oil needs to be moderate, not affecting the heart when using oil for a long time. In addition to oils such as soybean, sunflower, canola, ... parents can use olive oil for baby food. Choose 100% pure oil: With health standards, now choosing oil needs to comply with criteria such as 0% impurities to ensure safety for consumers' health; 0% cholesterol to reduce cardiovascular-related risks; Information on the label should be clear and complete. In particular, when you want to use foods that help provide fat for children according to the recommended needs, parents need to pay attention to the type of oil used and the food provided for children must be diverse, in order to help the development process. children's better. Therefore, each type of cooking oil will have different advantages. Oils such as canola, sesame, soybean, sunflower, and fish oils are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and include the precursor DHA, which plays a role in brain and retina development. and immune system. Other oils such as olive oil, palm oil rich in omega 6 fatty acids, ARA play a role in increasing inflammation, helping to protect the body. Therefore, the use of cooking oil can depend on the age and purpose of use, but for the mother to choose the right oil for each age of the child as well as the developmental stage of the child.
In addition to choosing weaning oil and appropriate nutrition, exercise and activities, parents should also add necessary micronutrients for children such as: Zinc, selenium, chromium, vitamins B1 and B6, Ginger, acerola fruit extract (vitamin C), ... to improve taste, eat well, reach the right height and weight and exceed the standard, good immune system, strengthen resistance to reduce minor illnesses as well. less likely to have digestive problems.
To have more knowledge about taking care of children by age, you should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, Pediatricians - Nutritionists when you need advice.