Working Toward 5 A Day
Dietary guidance to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day for adults and children is found in the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid. When your baby is ready for solid foods, the 5 A Day principles can help you set a goal for offering a variety of fruits and vegetables each day, even if it’s just a taste. Check with your physician or registered dietitian for guidance on when to start solid foods.
Often, during the transition to table foods, fruits and vegetables may be left behind in favor of easy-to-eat table foods. This is the time to shape eating habits that carry into later childhood, so eating 5 A Day becomes second nature.
It’s important to emphasize that 5 A Day is a goal — don’t force a child who is not interested. Just keep trying. Make it fun. Make it colorful. Offer foods you may not like. Try not to bias your baby’s fruit and vegetable preferences based on your own. An older baby or toddler may like them! A new fruit or vegetable may need to be offered several times before a baby accepts it.
Be careful not to misread a baby’s cues. A face that a baby makes may be saying, “What is this? It’s new to me…” and not, “I don’t like this.” Let your baby’s appetite drive the amount he eats. Watch her cues and offer what she wants; never force your baby to finish a whole jar or your toddler to “clean the plate.”
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