Learning Curves

In which I bash commercial feeding products:

Daniel has a feeding tube. That means his food bypasses his mouth. When it comes to nutrition… that is about all that’s pertinent, so far as I can tell. Well, you ask a Gastroenterologist or a dietitian and so far as I can tell, to them it means that the child suddenly has unusual dietary requirements that must be met with a special formula and regular appointments to weigh the child and adjust his “feeds.” This alone seems frustrating and unneccesary since Daniel doesn’t have any sort of GI disorder. We’re only on their radar, because he arrived in the country constipated. The malnourishment and dehydration is something I know how to work with. And I’m thrilled to have the use of a ng tube to help us towards health. But I went to his follow-up appointment today and learned very little. Except that they want me to put formula down his tube instead of food.

I looked at the formula. I don’t like it. I don’t understand why they love it. First of all, it’s produced by Nestle. You got that right – the same place that sells candy bars. It’s not a good sign. Then, I heard that kids (and adults) struggle to eat it as a meal and need it dripped continuously so that they don’t get nauseous. Umm…. that’s not a good sign. And then I read the ingredients. Let me give you a little comparison in the nutrition information between… a Snickers bar and one can of the formula:
Total fat: 11g vs. 12.4g
Total Carbohydrate 28g vs 27.5g
Protein 3g. vs 7.5g

Wellllll, you say, maybe the carbohydrates in the formula are healthy carbs, whereas the carbs in the Snickers are primarily sugar. Here are the first three ingredients of Nutren Jr.: Water, Maltodextrin, Sugar

I have the can right here in front of me. No joke! It’s like fortified sugary cereal… it might give you nutrition, but with a huge sugar punch! Gross.

(sigh)

So his GI and dietitian weren’t thrilled that we didn’t want to feed this to him. And they were uncomfortable that I’m feeding my child food. And they want me back in a month so that they can weigh him and adjust his feeds accordingly.

I don’t want to go.

So now that I’m home, I’m going to work on Daniel’s meals… making sure I have healthy meals for him with adequate or high levels of calories and NUTRITION. And I know some people are going to be uncomfortable with me choosing to feed my son FOOD. And that just confuses me. If you’re a pro-formula person (not because it’s convenient, but because you believe it’s healthy) then tell me this – if you lost the ability to chew tomorrow, would you like chili and cornbread pumped into your tummy with that feeling of warm happiness… or would you like a can of vanilla Nutren to burp and taste and feel nauseous on for the next few hours? Which one do you think would improve your quality of life?

Why do dietitians like this stuff?!??!???