6 Countries Where Babies Eat Better Than You

There's a reason the baby food diet was once a fad adopted by celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. The diet didn't seem work for many, but it undoubtedly provided plenty of nutrients. In fact, when baby food is fresh, as it is in many countries across the globe, it may even help prevent allergies later in life. Here are six countries where babies eat better and more nutritiously than you do. 

You won't find pantries lined with rice cereal in French homes. First foods for French babies are health-conscious options like leek soup, endive, spinach, and beets. And by the time they're 1 year old, French toddlers are most likely already noshing on medium-soft cheeses, quinoa, and couscous.

When they're about six months old, after they've adjusted to rice cereal and mashed rice, babies in India are introduced to khichdi, a traditional vegetarian dish of rice and high-protein lentils and vegetables that includes a variety of flavors and spices like cumin, coriander, mint, and cinnamon.

By their first birthday, most little ones in Japan have already had their fair share of miso soup. In an attempt to wean babies off breast milk — usually on the 100th day after the child's birth — Japanese parents whip together a popular dish called okayu, a rice porridge typically topped with dried fish and vegetables or mashed pumpkin.

Sweet potato, known locally as ngwaci, is commonly offered as a first solid food for Kenyan babies as young as 6 months old. Aside from its inherent sweet taste, the easily digestible starchy root vegetable is packed with vitamin A, which helps with a slew of metabolic functions like vision and immune maintenance.

Rice, beans, and soups are frequently on the menu for a baby's inaugural solid food fiesta in Mexico and Central America. But Mexican parents have also been known to spice things up by sprinkling chili powder and lime onto apples, oranges, and pears to entice their babies to eat fruit.

In the morning, before a serving of milk, 4-month-old babies on this tropical island are given indigenous fruit and fruit blends — custard apple, mango, banana, papaya, naseberry — with a teaspoon of honey to enhance the flavor.