DIET PLAN 2

DIET IN WEANING
The term “weaning” comes from the word “wemian” which means to accustom, weaning
begins from the moment supplementary food is started and continues till the child is taken off
the breast completely. Solid food added to an infant diet is called beikost. These is an
increase in activities of enzymes at the time of weaning.

The ideal time to start introducing semisolid food is when a body is ready to sit up swallow
eat and taste other foods. The baby’s stomach is ready to digest food and baby has good
opposite and accepts food readily and there is more activity in the child.

NEED FOR WEANING:

Infants is our country thrive on breast milk alone up to six months of life and their growth
rate during this period is satisfactory. After six months increasing needs of calories and
protein of growing children cannot be met by diminishing output of mother’s milk. Milk is
also a poor source of “vitamin-C” and supplementation with fruit juice is essential. Iron
forms in liver of infant would last only up to 4-6 months. Hence, iron rich foods should be
given at least from six months onwards. Milk is deficient in vit-D, if the baby is to maintain
the expected rate of growth , remain healthy and well nourished supplementary feeding has to
be resorted to around 4th month.

Introduction of weaning food too late can lead to under nutrition and increased diarrheal
morbidity. Bulky adult diet when given to infant usually does not meet the nutritional
requirement particularly calories. Nutrient density of weaning food of western diet is 1k/g of
food whereas in Asia , the nutrient density is 0.25 kcal to 0.4 kcal/g. Hence caloric dense
foods like malted food should be given to infant, weaning food should provide atleast 10% of
energy as protein.

TYPES OF SUPPLEMENT FOODS:

A) Liquid supplements

1) Milk:
● At about the 6th month of the life, the frequency of breast feeding is reduced to 3-4
times per day and animal milk is substituted, since the proportion of the nutrient in
the animal milk differs from the human milk. The cow’s milk is diluted with
boiled and cooled water in the proportion of 2:1 first feeds. The amount of water
 is gradually so that in the course of few weeks the body can receive undiluted
animal milk. Two feeds, milk 225 ml of milk per feed is an ideal replacement.
Sugar can added for the taste and to increase calories.

2) Juice of the fresh fruits:

● Orange, tomatoes, sweet lime, grapes serve to supplement the protective nutrient,
not present in sufficient amount in the breast milk as well as in animal milk. It is
an advantageous to start feeding small quantities of fresh fruit juice even in the 3 rd
or 4th month of life. In the early stages fruit juices is diluted with an equal amount
of the boiled water and only a couple of tea spoon ful of fed. In a week’s time, the
baby services 65ml orange juice and about 170ml fresh tomato juice.

3) Soup from green leafy vegetables:

● Incase of fresh fruits are not available, green leafy vegetable may be used as
alternative , strained soup can be given in the beginning with unstrained soup later
on.
4) Fish liver oil:
● Fish liver oil are a good source of vit A & D, infants should be given a few drops
of ½ tsp per day mixed in small quantity.

SOLID SUPPLEMENTS MASHED WELL BEFORE FEEDING:

⮚ Mashed food is started around the 7th and 8th month of the life around this time , the
infant is already receiving animal milk ,fruit juice or vegetables soup and fish liver
oil
1) CERALS AND STARCH:
To meet the increasing demands of calories and proteins ,well cooked ,mashed
cereals like ,rice, rice flour , rice flakes , ragi flour , mixed with milk and sugar can
be given .
To prepare amylase rich food, the cereal is tied in moist cloth and kept in a warm
place
After 2 days sprouts come out .it should be roasted . the malted cereal is powdered
after removing the sprout .during the process of malting , starch is converted into
maltose due to thinner .this way calorie consumption can be increased .
 2) VEGETABLES :

Cooked mashed liked potato ,green leafy vegetables and carrots can be
introduced to get vitamins and mineral losses in diet

3) FRUITS :

All fruits except for banana mash must be stewed and sieved for one year old baby .
thereafter ,it is given simply stewed with addition of a little sugar and lime juice for flavor

4) NON VEGETERAIAN FOOD:

A small amount of hard-boiled yolk of egg is given to start with and if the infant tolerates the
amount may be gradually increased to a complex ,yolk of an egg yolk is a good source of
VIT A , iron ,protein. Egg white , because of allergic manifestation is not given until the
infant is 8-10 months old and then given continuously . the whole egg may be poached are
soft boiled ,fed by the time the baby reaches the age of 1 year .finally minced 4 cooked meat
are boiled fish , may be fed after suitable flavoring with salt 3-4 times

5) PULSES:

Well , cooked along with cereals in the form of khichidi/Pongal can be given or can be made
into porridge .pulses and meat proportions can be given alternate days

SOLIDS SUPPLEMENTS UN MASHED : When the baby starts cutting his teeth .it is the
time be start chopped and lumpy foods .cooked cereals , pulses and vegetables can be given
to child .solids like idly , bread , chapati , rice and dal can be given . after years leafy
vegetables will be given well boiled &soft

PROCESSED FOODS :

Homemade processed food can be given as weaning foods, homemade processed weaning
foods can be prepared by using cereals ,pulses, nuts and jaggery with without milk products.
Processed foods like pasta , rusks and biscuits can also be given commercially available
weaning foods are digested but are expensive. Commercially available weaning foods like
vegetables soups and fruit dessert , pudding and fruit and vegetable juices can be given as
weaning foods . weaning food can be ready to eat {or} ready to reconstitute foods, processed
foods and standardized, convenient, and suitable to the infant.
POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN INTRODUCING WEANING FOODS:
1. Introduce only one at a time.
2. Allow infant to become familiar with the food before trying to give another.
3. Give very small amount of any new food at the beginnings for example one tsp full or
less.
4. At first, strained fruits, vegetable, and cereals are given.
5. Fruit juice should be fed only by cup not bottle.
6. When the baby is able to chew , gradually substitute finely chopped fruits and
vegetable usually at 8-9 months.
7. Variety in choice of food is important.
8. Infant may object taking some food by themselves but will take them willing if one is
mixed with another egg may be mixed with formula, cereal, vegetable. Vegetable can
be sometimes made into soup for a new flavour.
9. If after several trials the body has an acute dislike for particular food omit that item
for a week or two and try again . If the dislike persists it is better to forget about that
food.
10. The mother or anyone feeding the infant must be careful to avoid slowing in any way
a dislike for the food given.
11. A baby appetite varies a lot from meal to meal and day to day, during hot weather or
when the child is teething or suffering from cold , appetite can be lost
12. Use a very thin consistency , when starting solid foods. Generally the consistency is
made more solid as the infant leaves to proper the food bulk with the help of tongue.
13. The child can be fed with the katori and the spoon and the baby gets used to and adult
method of feeding.
14. To make the food calorie dense, add oil, butter or ghee to infant’s diet.
15. Food should be given between feeding(breastfeed).
16. Give freshly prepared food.
17. Foods should be slightly seasoned. The addition of salt or sugar is not necessary in all
foods ; water can be given in between the feeding with a cup or spoon.
 PROBLEMS IN WEANING
1. Obesity: Many infants are overfed by overzealous parcels who mistake acceptance of
food for appetite. The early and too much quantity of feeding or too concentrated food
can lead to over weight of the infant. Commercially available processed foods when
overfed leads to obesity.
2. Under weight: Too less quantity of food and less concentrated foods can lead to
underweight. Bulky adult food , when consumed by an infant give’s satiety without
meeting calorie requirement . The result in underweight of the children . Frequent
illness and repeated diarrhea can also result in underweight of the child.
3. Food Allergy: Food sensitive enteropathies occurs principally during first six months
of life and mostly limited to easily childhood. Predisposing factors may be
malnutrition, infection and genetic background . Increased gut permeability , low
level of secretory IgA and enzymatic immaturity put the infant at risk of allergy. The
food , most frequently implicated on infant allergies are wheat , milk, egg and citrus
juices . Rice is probably the most hypoallergenic of the commonly eaten cereal . The
consumption of wheat is best delayed until after sixth month . Egg white , which is a
potent sensitizer is usually deferred until 10th month . Allergy to milk is the most
serious of the commonly encountered food allergies since milk supplies the basic
nutritional requirement in easily infancy . In most cases the allergies reaction is due to
the lactoalbumin. The infant can be fed evaporated milk in which these protein is
denatured. Artificial flavours and colours have been associated with respiratory
allergic disorders.
4. Refusal to take new food: If the child refuses to take new food form of food can be
modified or should be mixed with food he likes and should be tried again after a week
or so.
5. Choking: choking and aspiration can be caused as the child is trying to eat , run and
breath. Choking can be caused by peanut , seeds, small hard sweet crisps and raisins.
Hard and big pieces of fruit like apple or vegetable or popcorn should be avoided for
children under 3years of age since they can cause choking which can lead to death .
Choking can be prevented by cutting or breaking into bite size pieces. Sticky foods
like peanut butter should be avoided. Children need to be supervised while eating
6. Diarrhea: Diarrhea is the passage of stools with increased frequently . Fluidity or
volume compared to the usual for a given individual . It is a response of the bowel to
injection , drugs, foods or disease. Acute diarrhea is a major cause of morbidity and
over the world more so in the developing countries . Acute diarrhea during weaning
can due to injection. When weaning food is introduced too early that is the infant’s
digestive system is not ready or if there is not enough digestive enzyme secretion
diarrhea can occur. Encouragement of breast feeding , better food hygiene,
improvement of nutritional status of children and food environmental sanitation are
important strategies for lowering the incidence of diarrhea. Plenty of fluid should be
given to the child early in the illness to prevent dehydration .

If the diarrhea is prolonged and dehydration becomes evident it is desirable to

rehydrate the child orally by administering a solution with the composition approved
by WHO. Milk should be diluted with equal volumes of water and fed along ORS till
diarrhea stops parents must also be educating regarding storage of water and foods in
clean utensils continuance of breast feeding , using only freshly prepared weaning
foods and thorough washing of hands with soap before handling food.
DIET PLAN HERE