Episode 12: Why My child Won't Eat Meat!

Episode 12: Why My child Won't Eat Meat!

Welcome back to The Easy Feed Podcast, and a very happy new year to you all!

I'm thrilled to continue this journey with you into 2024. We've covered a lot in our first 11 episodes, but today's topic is something that hits close to home for many parents of young fuss pots: "My Child Won't Eat Meat."

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Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/3-week-feeding-kids-reset

Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.078)
Understanding Child Protein Needs (02:21.678)
Child Protein Requirements and Impact (04:48.43)
Nutritional Balance for Children (07:07.182)
Non-Meat Substitutes for Children's Nutrition (09:24.014)
Plant-Based Proteins and Dietary Guidelines (11:52.846)
Nutritional Guidelines for Children (14:13.742)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

Welcome back to The Easy Feed Podcast, and a very happy new year to you all!

As a mum myself, I've faced this common challenge, especially with my daughter. Whether it's the unique texture of meat for little ones or the struggle with introducing different protein sources, it's a journey many of us navigate. In this episode, we'll delve into five key discussions:

Understanding the Texture Battle: From the early days of introducing solids to dealing with toddler fussy eaters, we'll explore why meat poses a texture challenge for many little ones. Protein Requirements for Kids: I'll break down how much protein a child actually needs, debunking common misconceptions and shedding light on the real nutritional needs for our little munchkins. Balancing Protein Intake: We'll discuss the common scenario of kids relying on certain protein sources like chicken nuggets or sausages and reassure parents that they're likely meeting their protein requirements. Snack Strategies: Given that younger children prefer snacking throughout the day, we'll explore clever ways to incorporate plant-based protein foods into snacks, ensuring a balanced and nutritious diet. Plant-Based Protein Alternatives: For families following a vegetarian or vegan diet, we'll discuss non-meat protein sources rich in iron and zinc, emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach. If you find yourself nodding along or thinking, "That's me!" during this episode, don't worry; you're not alone. For those eager to dive deeper and receive ongoing support, I invite you to join the waitlist for my membership at nourishwithkarina.com/membership. It's a hub for resources, cheat sheets, and videos to help you manage the nutritional needs of your little ones, especially if they're not keen on meat.

Remember, you're doing an amazing job, and your child is perfectly normal. Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and connect with me on Instagram @nourishwithkarina. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for future episodes.

Learn more about my membership program, head over to: https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Introduction (00:00.078)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 12, My Child Won't Eat Meat. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learned all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Welcome back everybody and a very happy new year. It's great to have you here and I look forward to continuing this podcast in 2024. Late 2023 was when this podcast was initially released, the Easy Feed, and I think we snuck in 11 episodes for the first year and well for the first few months and I look forward to growing this podcast this year. So thanks for being here and let's dive into today's episode.

My child won't eat meat. Look, this is a very common issue that parents face. I certainly experienced it firsthand, especially with my daughter. And this is an issue that can start really from when we start solids with babies because meat has a very unique texture and often this is quite a challenging texture for little ones. So often we find that babies really struggle with meat.

And I know that when my little one was young, when she was probably about, you know, eight, nine months and you knew that iron stores were getting low and we needed to increase dietary iron. I did relied a little on the pouch foods because even though they only had about eight or 9 % meat, they were very saucy. They were loaded with pureed tomatoes and herbs and, and that was a good way to get meat into her because it was, it was a good texture.

It wasn't that grisly texture that often meat is, especially when you're trying to make it at home. And perhaps, you know, when I tried to make it at home, I would try to increase the meat content. So it wasn't, you know, 8 % meat. It was, it was a higher meat content, but it's that texture that little ones often struggle with. And then you move into the toddler fussy eating world and they don't like the taste of it. They don't like the look of it. Perhaps the texture is still an issue. So.

Understanding Child Protein Needs (02:21.678)
Meat and, and you know, animal products can sometimes be a challenging food group to get into kids. And then parents worry about whether their child's getting enough protein or perhaps iron, which is a valid concern. And I've got a whole podcast on iron, which was only a few episodes ago. So please feel free to go and check that out. That's all about iron. But today we're talking about protein. Often I have parents come to me saying the only...

protein that they eat is chicken nuggets or a sausage or a Frankfurt. And look, that's very real for many kids and many families. So if that's where you're at, you are totally normal. Your child is totally normal. Don't dismay. They're probably still meeting their protein requirements. And I'll go through that in a little more detail today. So let's start by talking about what protein is. Protein is made up of what we call amino acids.

and amino acids all joined together form chains called peptides, otherwise known as protein. Our body uses protein like building blocks to help with the growth of our muscles, bones, tissues, really, really important as a foundation building block for our body. So how much protein does a child actually need? And this is often a question that parents have and it's valid.

But the answer might actually really surprise you because it's actually a lot less than most of us think. There's a lot of misconception and misinformation out there about how much protein we actually do need. And I think because of this, we think that all of us need a lot more protein than our bodies actually do need. You know, the average child eats way more protein than their body actually requires. If you look at

exactly how much they need on a gram per kilogram basis. And the same goes for adults. If we talk technical terms for a minute, the human body needs around about one gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight, of your body weight. So for example, a five -year -old child may weigh approximately 20 kilos. So that means that their daily protein requirement is about 20 grams. So one gram per kilogram. So,

Child Protein Requirements and Impact (04:48.43)
20 kilogram child needs about 20 grams of protein a day. Now that doesn't mean 20 grams of meat, it means 20 grams of protein. And there's conversions, you know, to go into the detail about how many grams of protein is in X amount grams of meat. So that's too technical to go into today, but 20 grams of protein is where it's at. And fussy eaters usually still meet their protein requirements.

They do usually obtain most of their protein from dairy products such as milk, cheese, yoghurt, but also from carbohydrates such as bread, cereals, pasta, and then sometimes chicken nuggets and sausages. So if you consider that 20 grams of protein that a child might require, now let's look at what they typically may eat over a day. And if you literally add up one cup of milk, one slice of cheese,

and one cup of cooked pasta, voila, there is your 20 grams of protein for the day. So you can see just how easily a child, even a fussy eater, can still meet their protein requirement. So generally there will be two, threefold their protein needs. And often that's where the problem lies, because it's not that they're having a lack of protein intake,

It's just the types of protein foods they're consuming low in nutrients such as iron and zinc. And that's where we get into trouble because it's the beige white diet that's often low in iron. And that's why we see kids becoming iron deficient and very commonly so. And as I said, you can check out my iron podcast to learn more about iron. So in that podcast, you'll also hear me talking about...

the impact or the negative impact, I should say, of too much dairy on children's intake of iron and zinc. Because yes, it's a protein, but it's really going to reduce their intake of these other nutrients because dairy products are really filling. So they've got a combination of protein, carbohydrate and fat. And so they're what we call very satiating. And so children and often fussy eaters will fill up on milk.

Nutritional Balance for Children (07:07.182)
yogurt, cheese throughout the day for various meals and snacks. And so they're meeting their protein requirements, but their iron, zinc and levels of other nutrients are potentially at risk. So what do we do? Well, we need to start by looking at the total day and look, as I talk about, it's, it's important to really consider a nutritionally balanced week rather than a nutritionally balanced day, because we want to take the pressure off making sure that the child gets

everything that they need over a day because really you need nutrients over 24 hours. We want to make sure that our bodies are getting what they need over the weeks and months, but it doesn't have to all be in within 24 hours. So looking at it from a nutritionally balanced week perspective, it really does take the pressure off parents because we're saying, right, okay, bigger picture here, let's just make sure they're getting everything they need.

but it doesn't have to be between nine and five today. Or if you're really unlucky and they get up at 5am between five and seven today. Okay. So by now you're probably thinking, all right, well, maybe my child does meet their protein requirements, but they're still probably not getting enough of the nutrients because they're not eating meat. So then what do we do? So if they're not eating much in the meat, chicken or fish world,

then we do need to focus on the non -meat world and really try to increase our child's intake of these foods. Because non -meat plant -based foods can still be rich in iron and zinc. We just have to be clever about how we give it to them, making sure that we're maximising the absorption of these nutrients and making sure that we're including these foods regularly throughout the day. Now, this is a very strong focus of one of the modules in my membership.

So if you're looking for this type of support, then please head to my website, nourishwithKarina .com forward slash membership and join the wait list because this will be super helpful if you're really concerned about your child's intake of iron, zinc, and basically their a rusty eater. So head to nourishwithKarina .com forward slash membership and you can join the wait list for my membership and be the first to know when that opens again because.

Non-Meat Substitutes for Children's Nutrition (09:24.014)
Yeah, it's a very common concern for parents and I spend a lot of time reassuring parents and providing them with information and the tools and the tricks they need to manage children who don't eat these iron rich foods well. And I've got cheat sheets and videos all about how much children need and how we can get in, you know, these non -meat substitutes to make sure that our children are getting all the nutrition that they need. So let's now talk about some of these non -meat.

protein foods that children can have throughout the day to increase their intake of these nutrients, especially nutrients such as iron and zinc. Now, the first one I'm going to talk about actually does come from chickens, it's eggs. But in terms of the iron, it's more like a plant -based food. So it is categorized into the plant group for that reason. So eggs are a really way to try to boost your child's protein intake and also

Nutrients such as iron and choline and folate and amigas in the egg yolk. Nuts and nut butters are high in protein, they're high in good fats, they're high in fiber. They're a brilliant food to include in main meals and also snacks for children. Seeds are another one. Legumes such as baked beans, hummus, lentils, chickpeas, black beans, they're all really, really good. I've got a great black bean brandy recipe that again, members have access to.

Tofu and edamame are also great options, especially if your children like going to sushi and they happen to try the edamame, they're a really good source of protein and they contain iron as well. Now, because little ones do have smaller tummies, younger children do prefer to snack throughout the day. Often they will have six smaller meals rather than adults who tend to have three larger meals, plus or minus snacks during the day.

So if we change our mindset for feeding younger children, and this is really children up until the age of, I'd say, nine or 10, if we focus on snacks being just as important as main meals, then we can really try to maximise the nutrition of their snacks. We need to be including these plant protein foods in our children's snacks as well as their main meals. And I encourage parents to offer snacks such as hummus with crackers,

Plant-Based Proteins and Dietary Guidelines (11:52.846)
Might be peanut butter on toast. At home, you could do mixed nuts. You could do zucchini slice or a slice that's got eggs in it or an omelette or a frittata. It might be boiled eggs or it might be dippy eggs. Cold boiled eggs can be sliced up as well for a platter. It might be edamame. You can buy the frozen edamame pods. I've been buying them a lot for my daughter recently, actually, and she really likes them. And you basically defrost the pod.

in boiling water and then you can lightly salt them and then they eat them. So if they like edamame when you go out, then you can actually buy them frozen in the packets and have them in your freezer. Baked beans is another great one. Just pop open a tin of baked beans and they can have that as a snack or part of a breakfast or lunch or even dinner on the side of some scrambled eggs and some chopped cucumber and capsicum. Now combining these plant proteins.

with vitamin C rich foods will help to maximise the absorption of iron and zinc. And as I said, I've got all these resources and cheat sheets available to members, my membership. So for more information, please check that out and join the wait list. For families following a vegetarian or vegan way of eating, again, completely fine, healthy, fiber rich foods. You know, generally vegetarian diet is going to be much more rich in plant.

fibres and prebiotics and phytochemicals and a lot of good things. But the risk of iron deficiency is higher. And so we just need to be making sure that whatever the recommended dietary intake is for your child for their age, you basically double it and follow that amount when you're trying to feed them plant -based foods, just because the absorption of the nutrients from plant -based proteins isn't as high.

as the absorption of iron from meat products. So completely fine, completely healthy, but you just need to basically double the amount of iron that they get from the plant -based protein foods because it's just not as well absorbed. And look, sometimes you can do a bit of an iron supplement, but you cannot supplement in large doses without professional support or guidance because iron supplements can be toxic in large amounts. So yeah, if you're thinking about supplementing, then talk to me because we, we

Nutritional Guidelines for Children (14:13.742)
We don't really want to go down that path. We just want to try to get the iron from the food. And as I said, with following a vegetarian or vegan diet, it's again, the protein is probably going to be covered. It's more those nutrients of iron and zinc that you just want to make sure that they're meeting their needs for. So head to nourishwithKarina .com forward slash membership, join the wait list, and then you will have access to all of these information when it becomes available. So if we move on now to.

the question about whether or not children need protein supplements. The short answer is no. It's much better if they get protein from food itself. Not only because we are then teaching children about eating real food rather than processed powdered food, but also they're actually going to get a lot more nutrition from food itself.

rather than something that has been processed and heat treated and put in a can. It's going to be more cost effective and nutritious to make a smoothie at home made with real milk or plant milk, fruit, you can throw in some oats or ground flaxseed or chia, nut butter, avocado, whatever you want really, or you can keep it as simple as you want as well. But that is going to meet their protein needs from a...

your protein perspective, they don't need a protein supplement. As I said, it's not protein that's generally the issue, it's more those other nutrients and the protein supplement may not be rich in iron and zinc anyway. Usually it's not, usually it's just like a whey protein or a pea protein. There's only the really, really expensive ones that are going to have any reasonable amount of iron and zinc in them. So again, you don't really want to go down that path of supplementation. Let's just focus on

giving our children protein and plant proteins if they're not eating meat at each meal and snack time and just trying to enable it to add up over the day because it will. Little changes that you can make to each meal and snack time will absolutely add up over the days and the weeks and the months and improve their nutrition overall. So wrapping things up for today, thank you so much for being here and a very happy new year for you. I hope 2024 is an awesome year for you.

If you love what you hear, then please make sure you subscribe to this podcast. And I'd love for you to leave me a review so it helps get this podcast out to more people. Also, please find me on Instagram. I'm nourishwithKarina. I'd love you to get in touch, send me a message and let me know what you'd love me to talk about on this podcast. Bye for now.