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Developing Good Eating HabitsMar. 14, 2003Doug: It’s Monday afternoon and 17-month-old Evan Peone is getting a checkup, not at her doctor, but in the office of Spokane Regional Health District dietitian Michelle Hagan.Evan and her mother Gina are enrolled in Women Infant Children, or WIC. It’s a government program that teaches low-income parents about feeding their infants and toddlers. Hagan is weighing and measuring Evan to see how she’s growing. Hagan will take blood from the little girl’s big toe and check Evan’s iron levels. Gina Peone brought with her a list of the foods her daughter ate during the last 24 hours. She’ll share this with Michelle Hagan. Formula is on the list, along with a few of the other things for which Evan has developed a taste. Gina Peone “She actually really, really likes to eat pizza, which is kind of a bad thing to feed babies, but…(chuckles). She really does like it, so. We were at a birthday party yesterday and, she got to have her fill. She does eat a lot of dry cereal and applesauce. (Evan snorts) Those are the main things that she likes.” Doug “Is she a veggie kid?” Gina Peone “Not so much. Sometimes baby carrots and she’ll eat about half and stash it in the couch. (laughs) She has food stashes everywhere.” Doug: Evan Peone has been eating things other than formula for about a year. Her mom says Evan doesn’t care much for baby food. She prefers to eat what her mom eats. That’s pretty normal, says dietitian Michelle Hagan, who says, when babies get to be five or six months old, they’re ready for foods other than mother’s milk or formula. Soft cereal is often baby’s first so-called solid food. Michelle Hagan “By nine to ten months, they can start to have modified table foods. And so it just takes some modification for choking, you know, watching the spices and sugar. But, definitely by a year, your one-year-old should be following the same food pattern as the family.” Doug: Hagan says parents should understand that young children don’t need to eat a lot, but they need to eat frequently, often six times a day or more. And she counsels them to forget the old adage that children should clean their plates. Hagan “The rule is, the parent decides what foods the child should eat. The child needs to determine how much.” Doug: Usually, Hagan says, they eat very little. Hagan “Your one-year-old really only needs one to two tablespoons of fruit, one to two tablespoons of vegetable and one to two tablespoons of meat. A quarter slice of bread is a serving. One to two small crackers is a serving. So if you offer them smaller serving sizes, it doesn’t seem so overwhelming for them. And they’ll be more inclined to eat the foods they’re offered.” Doug: Sacred Heart Medical Center dietitian Michelle Weinbender is convinced that it’s important to establish good eating habits early. Michelle Weinbender “Especially now, we’re starting to see heart disease, obesity, diabetes, at a younger age.” Doug: By teaching children to eat a balanced diet and to exercise, Weinbender says parents potentially give their children a big long-term health advantage. Weinbender “If you’re helping your child develop those good eating skills, buying, preparing, offering appropriate foods, kids really have built-in feeding mechanisms. They know when they’re hungry, they know when they’re full. You know, that’s the beauty. They’re wired to be able to eat. So, it’s when we start to mess with that we may be setting them up for overeating or undereating.” Doug: The easy availability of processed food, say many dietitians, is one of the major reasons why Americans are collectively heavier and more susceptible to heart disease, diabetes and many other lifestyle-related illnesses. But Michelle Weinbender says it doesn’t mean parents need to completely avoid fast food. Weinbender “I think you can work it in just fine, but the kids need to know this isn’t our perfect choice for a meal. We’re doing this because we’re traveling or we’re out all day and this is the convenient place to stop and eat. We’re gonna monitor our portion size. And we’re gonna be sure we have fruit for a snack when we get home and a balanced dinner.” (back to Michelle Hagan’s office) Doug: Back in Michelle Hagan’s office, Gina Peone is bouncing her daughter Evan on her lap, trying to keep the child settled after her blood draw. Hagan is reviewing with the young mother Evan’s diet. Hagan “She like split pea soup?” Gina Peone “Um, actually my friend made it for us, so it was kind of….” Hagan “How’d she do with it?” Gina “Um, she liked it okay.” Hagan “Wasn’t like a winning favorite?” Gina “No, but she ate it, so…(laughs)” Hagan “’Cause beans are really good for you. They’re really good for your heart, so if you can start children off eating beans at a younger age, they just think that’s a part of their diet, but they’re really good for ‘em, especially refried beans, black beans, lentils and split peas. So that’s really good, ‘cause that counts as both a vegetable and a protein source, so, excellent.” Doug: Hagan determines Evan is a healthy child. She’s growing at a nice rate. Her iron levels are good. Her diet is well-balanced. Gina Peone listens and nods at Michelle Hagan’s instructions. Hagan gives Gina a book filled with recipes she can use for Evan. Gina will also leave with a coupon that allows her to go to her neighborhood grocery store and pick up for free formula, eggs, cheese, fruit juice, peanut butter and iron-fortified cereals, things that have the nutrients Evan needs. Hagan calls WIC a great tool for getting nutrition information and good food to the families who need it the most. By Doug Nadvornick 
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