Vegan Nutrition with Jill Nussinow, MS, RD

Jill Nussinow is a Registered Dietitian, culinary educator, cookbook author, speaker and consultant and all around proponent of a plant-based diet. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and other places around the US. She has a son who is almost 15. One of her greatest joys is sharing her enthusiasm for vegetables and pressure cooking with anyone who will listen.

My son is 14 months old and refuses to eat anything that isn't totally pureed. (He LOVES Gerber!) If the food has any sort of lump (i.e. mashed potatoes, beans that have been mixed smooth in a food chopper, etc.)... He'll stick out his tongue, and simply remove the food from his mouth. Thus, he isn't eating table food. We're raising him as a vegan and are concerned about him getting the appropriate amount of nutrients (protein, calcium, cholesterol, B12, etc.) As well as him consuming the suggested 1,300 calories per day. Please advise me on how I can raise a healthy son.

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Having worked in the field of child development, it sounds as if your son's ability to tolerate texture might be delayed. Often this is something that is outgrown. You might want to make your own pureed foods so that you are sure about what you are serving your son, and also offer easy to eat table foods such as cooked pasta, steamed vegetables, cooked whole beans. Often, gradually introducing more texture will help him adjust. If that doesn't happen in the next month or two, you might want to check with your pediatrician to be sure that things are progressing properly with your child's overall development.

Visit Jill's website TheVeggieQueen.com and her blog theveggiequeen.blogspot.com.

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Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
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