Food Talk  Discussion Forum

my mother and i are of the opinion that young children should not be fed bland (feeka) indian food and instead they should be introduced to regular homemade food which is made for everyone. this way, the tastebuds develop and the kid has a variety to choose from. besides, our regular homemade food is not overtly spicy in any way. this is because we've seen that my cousin's 7 year old still fusses over even a little bit of spice as she's been brought up on 'special' food without even a sprinkling of chilli. in fact i think that acc. to ayurveda, you should have all 6 'rasas' in your body. my mother-in-law thinks children should not be given spiced food at all. by spicy she does not mean flaming hot, even i can't eat flaming hot. but she believes in preparing 'special' kiddies meal for all the items, which is frankly exasperating. i'd like to know your thoughts on giving 'bland' food to toddlers. additionally, any thoughts on why spice in food is terrible for children will be appreciated. thank you very much. Aparna replied. I have a 6 month old son, and i faced this same dilemna while introducing solids in his diet. I did quite a bit of reasearch on the topic and most of the best doctors say that by the time your child is a year old he should be able to eat the same food as u do (as long as its not excessively spicy). But its best to start off with no spices, then start adding a little bit of haldi, then introduce different spices one by one. But leave out those that are hot (laung, dalchini, red chilli, black pepper etc) till your child has started eating rotis (i.e. till he gets all his teeth and can chew his food). But you should give your child salt, ghee etc right from the beginning (in small amounts of course). By his 1st birthday your child should be eating off the same table as you. Its not a good idea to let your child get used to special kiddie food, coz it will grow into a habit that will be an unnecessary burden on you and it will also prevent your child from the freedom to eat out. Aparna replied. I have a 6 month old son, and i faced this same dilemna while introducing solids in his diet. I did quite a bit of reasearch on the topic and most of the best doctors say that by the time your child is a year old he should be able to eat the same food as u do (as long as its not excessively spicy). But its best to start off with no spices, then start adding a little bit of haldi, then introduce different spices one by one. But leave out those that are hot (laung, dalchini, red chilli, black pepper etc) till your child has started eating rotis (i.e. till he gets all his teeth and can chew his food). But you should give your child salt, ghee etc right from the beginning (in small amounts of course). By his 1st birthday your child should be eating off the same table as you. Its not a good idea to let your child get used to special kiddie food, coz it will grow into a habit that will be an unnecessary burden on you and it will also prevent your child from the freedom to eat out.