Food Classifications and the Diets of Young Children in Rural Egypt

Food Classifications and the Diets of Young Children in Rural Egypt

Soheir Sukkary-Stolba

THEME: The article depicts the fundamental principles of traditional food classification methods and their effects on toddlers’ diets. The research reveals that heavy foods have detrimental effects on the child’s digestive system while “light” foods are good for the toddlers’ health; thus, their consumption aids in eliminating malnutrition issues in rural Egypt.

1. Introduction

1. Anthropological research has always analyzed food classification to enhance better understanding of how diets have been categorized to provide better consumption patterns. Depending on individuals’ perceptions, food classification may or may not reflect the specific values of the diets.

2. Notably, the people’s points of view regarding the food value relates to their past experiences of tastes, digestibility, perceived nutritive values among others. However, the dynamic processes involving food classification and identification rely on specific rules that community members tend to share.

3. This article comprehensively outlines the dietary consequences of traditional food categorizations on children’s nutrition, especially in rural Egypt. To effectively identify the aforesaid repercussions of malnutrition, one has to familiarize himself/herself with the culturally alleged values of various diets, morbidity and children mortality rates in the rural setting.

4. Preliminary data proved that it is recommended to withhold heavy foods but instead, give toddlers light foods because the former rot the child’s stomach as evidenced in beef proteins, meat, chicken cuts and cold cuts.

5. Therefore, this paper discusses the types of foods given to young children aged between 9 and 14 months.

2. Should it be “hot” and “cold” or “light” and “heavy”?

1. Foods characteristic of spicy nature like pickles and those with hot sauce are usually regarded as hot foods. However, cold foods usually include cooling fruits.

2. Light foods are easily digestible and they do not have side effects on the heart. Again, they cause no gases within the digestive system; thus, making them suitable for the sick and toddlers. Therefore, toddlers should be strictly fed liquid foods like milk, fruits, and bread. Additionally, eggs similarly form part of light foods albeit they are too expensive to afford by the rural poor in Egypt.

3. Conversely, heavy foods have undesirable effects on the intestines despite their good tastes. This implies that the weight of food does not depend on its lightness or heaviness but the two words categorically classify foods based on the degree of digestibility and taste.

4. Therefore, regardless of whether the food is hot or cold, Type A dietary patterns require that mothers should introduce children to light foods between the age of 9 and 14 months.

5. The Type A dietary pattern include breast milk, cumin, caraway, and alfalfa drinks as part of the aforesaid liquids and it occasionally recommends two years of breastfeeding.

3. What principles are used to classify toddlers’ foods?

1. The aforesaid discriminatory principles can best classify foods based on a set of acceptable beliefs and features. The culturally prejudiced ideologies classify food items in relation to whether they are light or heavy partly with concerns over their effects on the digestive system.

2. For instance, heavy foods like beans and eggs cause bloated stomach, diarrhea, and vomiting; thus, they are classified as foods that do not like toddlers.

3. On the other hand, some diets have no health or digestive complications and are usually referred to as foods that “like” toddlers. Therefore, heavy foods do not always “like” children since they are very hard to digest in regards to their fatty contents as evidenced in stews.

4. Mothers can give toddlers the heavy foods in smaller quantities in the form of licks as a way of changing them into light ones for ease of digestion.

5. Liquid sugary drinks are also vital since they contain glucose products that are essential for toddlers’ growth.

4. How do people learn about food classification?

1. Many mothers gain the idea of food classification for children from their older grandmothers and they accurately differentiate between the light and heavy foods.

2. Therefore, the older mothers take a leading role in feeding the babies, rearing them and ensuring topnotch general care when the mothers are engrossed in other daily chores.

3. Similarly, cousins and other relatives also offer advice to inexperienced mothers to acquaint her with vital knowledge regarding whether to adopt type A or B of toddler feeding.

4. However, children between 15 and 24 months old tend to imitate older siblings or pick food types of their choice. For instance, when the siblings eat rice and beans, the baby would also want the feed on the same; thus, gaining the knowledge of food classification in the process.

5. Finally, women usually talk about certain meals in general to enhance the exchange of past experiences with different foods. Therefore, mothers tend to learn how “heavy” beans, for example, cause various digestive illnesses to toddlers of specific ages.

5. Do mothers prefer light foods for sick toddlers?

1. A lactating mother withholds other food types but maintains breast-milk when she observes any signs of fever in the child. Some over-anxious mothers give their toddlers light foods like boiled mint, cumin, and alfalfa drinks to prevent shriveling up of the stomach without considering age.

2. However, some mothers give their toddlers smaller quantities of “heavy” foods, which they chew and spit to avoid the aforesaid complication.

3. It is important to follow the correct dietary pattern when feeding infant toddlers especially when they are ill. This requires that light foods should act as supplements to breastfeeding. Therefore, they should be given both simple and complex carbohydrates but not animal proteins that have been classified as heavy foods.

4. Generally, the introduction of heavy diets in older toddlers should start with young chicken that is not already as heavy as meat. However, this should be done when the child is 15 months old and above.

5. The emphasis on light foods aids in preventing gastrointestinal diseases resulting from environmental complications usually associated with flies. So, the toddlers have higher survival rates even in the absence of preventive health care.

OPINION: I would advise all mothers to stick to light foods for their toddlers between the age of 9 and 14 months to prevent possible gastrointestinal infections. The introduction of heavy diets like beans and meats should start between 15 and 24 months to provide the babies with essential nutrients for growth.