Nutritionists have found that feeding toddlers with too many fruit and vegetables can damage their health.
Sarah Almond, a consultant paediatric dietician said that diet includes high fiber and low fat, with hatful of fruit and vegetables, is good for adults but not suitable for children under five. This puts toddlers at risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.
“We expected the study to show nurseries were serving children food that was too high in calories, fat, saturated fat and salt, and low in vegetables and fruit,” Sarah Almond said.
She explained that young children (1-4 years old) bodies need energy rich foods and must be followed with small meals and snacks throughout the day as they cannot eat much because of small tummy and under developed gut.
Neil Leitch, the campaign director of the Feeding Young Imaginations initiative run by the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said: "The majority of nurseries are confused or misinformed about what entails healthy eating for the under-five age group.
“They are over-focusing on the message about eating five portions of fruit and vegetable a day and forgetting that it is completely inappropriate to simply puree a meal that would be healthy for a four-year-old and feed it to a two-year-old,” he added.
Nutritionists warned that high fiber and too less fat can lead to vitamin deficiencies and stunted growth in young children aged one to four, they accented that such diets with too much fiber and too little fat is suitable for only for adults.
This study will help parents and teachers who without knowing the science behind it provided toddlers, diet rich in fruit and vegetables without any fat content only to cause them more damage.
