Feeding oats to your child? Expert lists ‘highly-processed’ oats disadvantages

Considering how oatmeal has become such a buzzword for health-conscious people, parents giving oatmeal to their young children is not an unknown fact. But what if we told you that the oatmeal could, in fact, be acting as a food supplement for your children? And instead of the usual role oats play in an adult’s health, the same can’t be said when it comes to your child’s health.

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As such in a conversation with indianexpress.com, Dr. Priyanka Jaiswal, co-founder and chief nutrition officer of Diet2Nourish, explains the drawbacks of adding oatmeal to a young child’s diet. Calling it a “marketing gimmick,” she emphasizes the need to re-adopt the elderly baby. Feeding Habits followed by the previous generation.

“Young children are at an age where their growth is extremely rapid, and with that in mind, their diet should be packed with nutritious foods. They need a diet that provides them with a good amount of energy and nutrition, not fiber and antioxidants that oatmeal is good,” said Dr. Jaiswal.

Oatmeal can be harmful to children’s health. (Source: Getty Images)

Suggesting not adding oatmeal to a child’s diet until at least the age of five (only if necessary), he explains: “Fiber is needed for a particular reason. Oatmeal comes in great measure to help when one needs help to heal constipation. I suggest oatmeal to parents if the child is obese or has movement problems. But if the child is healthy and has a normal system, I would never recommend oatmeal.”

Asked how oatmeal affects a child’s health, Jaiswal listed the following reasons:

“Each diet is personalized according to the needs of the child. In the same way, oats are added to the diet of the child who really requires it. Deep down, oatmeal affects the natural growth of the child. There is less protein in oatmeal compared to other essential foods food items. Also, oatmeal is very heavy on the digestive system, which means that if you are giving your child oatmeal, it will take a long time for them to digest. Because of this, the child will not feel hungry as quickly as he should and will end up skipping his next meal, ”she says.

Dr. Jaiswal further points out how the oats are processed. “Cooking grains like oatmeal takes a lot of time. They cannot be easily cooked. So all these ‘one minute oatmeal’ schemes just indicate how processed they are, which should automatically be a big no-no when it comes to a child consuming it. It just means that you are feeding your baby. highly processed foods.”

Considering that oatmeal consumption has become standard practice, even so for today’s children, we asked Dr. Jaiswal what caused this habit to be established. “I think promoting oatmeal is all a marketing gimmick. It is because these oatmeal companies wanted to increase their target audience and children and young children are big contributors for companies.

“There are several beneficial substitutes for oatmeal such as sago (saboodana), green vegetablesand seasonal fruits that actually contain a good amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutritional elements that a child needs. Instead of getting swayed by these marketing gimmicks and influenced by western culture, we should go back to our old roots. Indian eating habits are powerful and extremely nutritious for a growing child,” she concludes.

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