Many people may have seen such a picture of life: a wrinkled, loving grandmother holding her beloved little grandson, shoving a mouthful of chewed “goodies” into the child’s mouth, while not bothering to eat a bite herself. When it comes to chewing and feeding, it often reminds people of the above-mentioned “intergenerational parenting” scenario, but also feel very warm. Yes, chew feeding children in the past is very common in rural areas, because the baby in infancy teeth and oral function is not yet well developed, parents believe that chewed food to children to eat will be better digestion and absorption, but also more convenient than in the case, grinder to break the food. Even now, in many families, parents often like to feed their babies and toddlers in this way. I don’t know, chew feeding children is actually much bad, on the baby’s health, oral function development and other aspects are very unfavorable. Bad One: the spread of disease adults may contain a variety of pathogenic bacteria in the mouth and saliva, but they may not have external symptoms of disease, while children’s resistance is relatively low, eat food laced with these pathogens may cause the corresponding infection. For example, many adults have H. pylori bacteria in the digestive tract, which can be transmitted through saliva; hepatitis B virus is not transmitted through the digestive tract, but if a hepatitis B virus carrier has bleeding gums in the mouth, it is also possible to “chew and feed” food to infants resulting in infection, although the chance of infection is relatively low, should not be completely ignored. And if the adult is in the early stage of the cold, chewing and feeding food to the baby unconsciously, it may also cause respiratory infection in the baby. Bad two: hinder the development of oral function Infants and toddlers in the transition period, need to gradually transition from pureed food to semi-solid food, solid food. The addition of complementary foods from fine to coarse is very important for the exercise of various oral functions such as chewing, swallowing, gnawing and tearing of the baby. The development of oral function not only ensures the intake of nutrients, but is also of great significance to the eruption of teeth, the development of the jawbone and the development of the nervous system. Chewed food is often too fine and soft for children to have any opportunity to develop their oral functions, and some children even drool after the age of 2 and have difficulty accepting slightly hard food. The third disadvantage: poor dental development from fine to coarse, from thin to thick, gradually add food, the child’s mouth to have sufficient chewing opportunities, the eruption of teeth to more smoothly, the jawbone and facial muscles will also develop more perfect. Pediatric dentists often lament that children are getting better nutrition, food is getting too fine, and more and more children need orthodontic treatment. Because the permanent teeth are larger than the milk teeth, the mouth needs more space to accommodate the permanent teeth during tooth replacement. If the jawbone is too small to accommodate the permanent teeth, they will be squeezed together in a crooked manner after eruption. From this point of view, chewing also has a cosmetic effect. The right solution: let children move their mouths more We often teach children to do their own thing, and in terms of eating, there should be no exception. In fact, chewing food is not only a process of food digestion through the mouth, it also promotes the secretion of gastrointestinal digestive juices. Thus, when the food enters the stomach and intestines, there are already prepared gastrointestinal digestive enzymes waiting to further digest it. If the lack of chewing, the food will instead increase the gastrointestinal burden. For children, eating chewed food for a long time, just like eating “rice in soup”, has a negative impact on their digestive function. Therefore, it is important to give children more opportunities to move their own mouths. Of course, for the really hard and difficult to eat food, parents should not be afraid of trouble during the child’s transition to milk, or grind and other ways to break the food, but pay attention to the hygiene of utensils, but also pay attention to the gradual transition from fine to coarse food. In this way, the child’s mouth can be more hygienic, oral function development is also more perfect.