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Fat in babies’ diets
A knob of butter melting on the shellfish? A delight. Two spoonfuls of crème fraîche in the spinach? How sweet ! A drizzle of oil on the tomatoes? An explosion of flavors. Although we know how to appreciate them in our daily cooking for their taste virtues, fat often suffers from a bad image. Consumed to excess in an unbalanced diet or mercilessly hunted down for unjustified fear of obesity, it is difficult to find the right balance on Baby’s plate.
No deadlock on baby fats
Relax! There is no good nutritional reason to restrict fat in a toddler’s diet. It is even essential to ensure its needs in fatty acids during its very first years while remaining reasonable. These fats are lipids of animal or plant origin, our main energy reserve. They provide the calories necessary for our good growth, vitamins (A, D, E, K, etc.) and fatty acids essential for the development of the organism. Consumed in a balanced way, these lipids are the cement of our cells, promote the growth of nails and hair and provide this feeling of satiety which makes it possible not to snack during meals.
There are different types of fats: saturated fatty acids, especially in products of animal origin (butter, cream, eggs, meat, dairy products and fatty cheeses), which are rather solid at room temperature. They are also found in lipids used in industrial production (palm oil, copra oil, margarines). The unsaturated fatty acids, usually of plant origin, are rather liquid at room temperature. Among them are essential fatty acids (EFAs) so named because the body cannot produce them in sufficient quantity, such as the famous omega 3 and 6. These are valuable assets for brain development and cell composition.
In the family of unsaturated fatty acids, there are also trans fatty acids of animal or vegetable origin, obtained by cooking or by hydrogenation of oils: in the food industry, to obtain products that keep longer (biscuits, pizzas, etc.), vegetable fats in fact often undergo this process, which changes their texture and generates trans fatty acids. The problem is that trans fatty acids are well known to stick to the lining of the arteries, increase bad cholesterol and cardiovascular risks when consumed too much, as in most French people in adulthood. In the baby, no deleterious effect would have been observed, caution all the same: do not consume them in excess, do not ban them either.
The right amounts of fat for babies
Significant lipid restriction should only be prescribed by a health professional (pediatrician, dietitian) in the event of a pathology and not for fear of obesity. The only way to prevent overweight: regular and varied physical activity supplemented by a balanced diet!
From birth to 3 years, fats should represent nearly 50% of energy intake. In practice, as long as the baby is breastfed or drinks the quantities of milk adapted to his age, his fatty acid needs are assured since dairy products contain more than 400 different ones! The composition of breast milk is absolutely perfect and infant milk is enriched with essential fatty acids to ensure optimal coverage of Baby’s nutritional needs. When it comes to food diversification, it’s up to you to compose balanced menus by choosing suitable, varied foods in reasonable quantities. To achieve the goals, there are only two rules to remember, which our pediatricians often forget to remind young parents: always a raw vegetable fat added to the plate and 500 ml of milk adapted to its age per day or the equivalent up to 3 years.
On vegetables, raw vegetables, starchy foods or fish, it is a teaspoon of vegetable oil (rapeseed, sunflower, olive, walnut, hazelnut, grape seeds, etc.) or a small knob of butter, or two tablespoons of crème fraîche in its small dish.
Vary the fats in Baby’s meals
It is difficult to bring together all the fatty acids and vitamins necessary for the good growth of your baby on a plate! On a daily basis and from the supermarket, we vary the sources of quality.
- -Vegetable oils all have different characteristics. By alternating or mixing them, we play the complementarity: olive oil is rich in omega 9 (oleic acid), sunflower oil concentrates omega 6 (linoleic acid). As for walnut and rapeseed oils, they have a good level of alphalinoleic acid, or omega 3. Keep them away from light and heat.
- -The fresh cream is the lightest of fat. It is rich in water and contains only 33% lipids. It provides little nutritionally, but gives a pleasant smoothness to a vegetable puree and varies the pleasures.
- -Butter is rich in saturated fatty acids. It is consumed raw, sparingly, without banning it since it is the best source of vitamin A after the liver.
Finally, we keep a light hand over cold cuts, crisps, fries, chocolate bars, ice creams, cakes, donuts, pastries and store-bought desserts filled with hidden bad fats. It is from early childhood that we take the good nutritional habits that will accompany us until adulthood!
Testimonial: steam cooking, grill or wok
«My mother cooked in butter. Me, I cook without anything! To avoid bad fats, I steam everything, even meat and fish, with a very practical microwave system. There is also the wok, the grill, the baked foils, the non-stick pan without an ounce of fat. Oil, butter, cream, we do not deprive ourselves of it, but we add them raw, to the plate. “