Infant and Toddler Nutrition - A Discussion with Pediatric Dietitian Pegah Jalali

Welcome to Episode 25 of the Eat for Endurance Podcast, featuring Pediatric Dietitian, Pegah Jalali, MS RD. 

Yep, I’m taking a little break from my usual sports nutrition programing to focus on infant and toddler nutrition! It may seem unrelated to talk about general nutrition for kids on this podcast but really, it’s not. Many of my listeners and clients are parents, and as parents, we of course want to do our best to keep our entire family healthy and to cultivate positive relationships with food (and exercise) for life. I sometimes get nutrition questions about babies and toddlers, and that is not my specialty, so I figured it was time to bring on an expert!

I also wanted to do this episode for personal reasons. With a 7-month old who recently started solids and a 3 year old who can be challenging to feed, infant and toddler nutrition is very much a part of my daily life. I was excited to get a refresher on some things I forgot from my older daughter (hello, baby brain!) and to learn some new strategies that I could immediately work into my day to day. 

Here are some of the topics that we cover in this episode:

• Breast and formula feeding - things to keep in mind, whichever you choose 
• Weight and growth charts - just like with adults, weight isn’t everything!  
• Starting solids - Purees? Baby led weaning? When do you even start? 
• Feeding toddlers - picky eating, snacks, treats, role modeling, and more
• Using food as a reward (especially with sweets)

If you're looking for nutrition advice for slightly older kids, definitely check out Episode 7 all about fueling young athletes (also includes general nutrition advice for adolescents, teens, and college kids). 

We had a few technical issues including a mic fail that diminished the sound quality, but I think you’ll enjoy the content and find it valuable, assuming of course that infant and toddler nutrition is relevant to you. If not, skip ahead - I have an awesome athlete nutrition profile coming up! Also, I think it makes sense to time stamp things in the post-Covid world, so FYI, this episode was recorded on April 13th.

Thanks for your time, Pegah, and hope everyone (especially my fellow parents of little ones) are hanging in there during these difficult times.

Announcements:

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• Have nutrition questions, a guest or topic request, or any other feedback? Email me - claire@eatforendurance.com.
• Music Credit: Joseph McDade
• Disclaimer – all information provided is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is in no way meant to replace individual medical and nutrition recommendations.