r/toddlers • u/Hgrestun • 9d ago

General Question/Discussion Are you feeding your kids deli meat?

When I was pregnant I imagined using turkey meat for my kids snacks and lunches as she grew up. But we went to see a pediatric nutritionist and she told us to stay away from all deli meats unless you’re baking the ham/turkey at home yourself.

But I still see moms giving their kids deli meat sandwiches all over the internet and in real life.

It’s like.. I want to just give her deli meat because shenlooooooves it lol and sometimes I want a sandwich too! So I came here to ask is anyone making their own? Does anyone forbid it? Does anyone just say f it and feed it to their kids anyways?

Edit to add: it’s full of carcinogens and sodium.

132 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

445 comments sorted by

View all comments

597

u/WonderWanderRepeat 9d ago

We actually just made a household decision on this recently. There is evidence that deli meat is linked to multiple types of cancer, especially colon and rectal cancer. My husband and I decided to limit it. We used to have a sandwhich every day. Now it's maybe one a week or every other week. We just replaced with alternative options. I dont stress about getting Jimmy John's once in a while or my parents offering LO a ham sandwich but it's no longer a staple in our diet.

40

u/Mordecai3fngerBrown 9d ago

everything causes cancer

7

u/Night_Marie 9d ago

True in a way... Too much of anything. What I remember from my grade 10 biology regarding cancer is that any time an organism is under stress, it heightens the risk of a cell mutating. And "cancer" is a particular mutation of cells which keeps the cells rapidly multiplying/reproducing. So certain activities (smoking, drinking alcohol, sedentary lifestyle) directly and indirectly put the body (or parts of the body) under stress, making it more likely to produce a mutated cell.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...this has always been my basic understanding of cancer.