My daughter is one week shy of being six months old, and that means I’ll soon be introducing solids to her tiny taste buds. Rice cereal has long been the staple first food for babies, but Lucile Packard Children's Hospital pediatrician Alan Greene, MD, wants to change that. Concerned about increasing childhood obesity and growing rates of diabetes, he recently launched “WhiteOut,” a campaign to cut white rice cereal from babies' diets. USA Today reports:
He is concerned that babies are getting hooked on the taste of highly processed white rice and flour, which could set them up for a lifetime of bad habits, such as a weakness for cakes and cookies.
Greene, who is also author of the book Feeding Baby Green, encourages parents to make healthier choices by pureeing vegetables at home or offering brown rice cereal as an alternative. He adds, "I don't want people to feel guilty. I have four kids and I figured this out just recently. But it's time to change."
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