Health and nutrition: Don't be chicken about eggs

Many parents will ask you for help and advice about how to introduce solids to their child’s diet. Two-thirds of new mums have reported that they have received conflicting advice on what age to start (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) 4^th March 2022) so your advice needs to be clear, current and correct.  You might also, in your various settings, have an influence over what your charges consume during the day, so you yourself need to be familiar with the latest advice for under-ones on what is considered good nutrition.

Conflicting advice

When I first qualified as a health visitor in the early 1980s, I was taught to recommend weaning at three months, changing to four months later in my career. Now the NHS advises weaning from six months, but a recent survey by the OHID found that 40% of first-time mums introduced solid food by the time their baby was five months. In the OHID survey, 28% of new mums report that their own mums had the biggest influence on their decision to start weaning, and as weaning advice has changed radically since the time today’s Granny was weaning her daughter or son, this may cause some confusion. No wonder current new mums report receiving conflicting advice.