yet some say that s exactly what s making our babies fat. here s juju chang with the details. chewing it up. yea. good boy. reporter: it s a milestone every parent looks forward to. mom and dad whip out the video camera for their baby s first bite of real food. what do you think, big guy? reporter: for 50 years pediatricians have recommended white rice cereal for a baby s first bite, easily digestible, gluten free and hypoallergenic. but pediatrician dr. allen green is turning that long-held belief on its head. i have serious problems. with white rice cereal. one thing i ve become convinced of is that white rice cereal can predispose to childhood obesity. i think it s the tap root of the childhood obesity epidemic. reporter: dr. green says because white rice cereal is the number one source of calories by far from solid foods in a baby s first year he believes it
new dietary guidelines just released by the government say simply you should eat, we should eat less salt, a lot less actually. people over 51, african-americans and those suffering from high blood pressure should cut their daily sodium consumption to about half a teaspoon. everyone else, the recommendation remains about a teaspoon of salt every day. we have to give that a little bit of perspective. apparently a mcdonald s quarter pounder with cheese, that in and of itself has about a tea spoon of salt. if you eat that, you re done for the day. and groups we just mentioned should have half of that. seems like that s hard to do. eat half and take the rest home. that s what i would do. to another food recommendation causing a lot of controversy among new moms. for a long time baby s first meal automatically meant white rice cereal.
conditions children to prefer sugary processed foods. he wants parents to start their babies on pureed fruits and vegetables combined with a whole grain cereal instead of white rice. the difference between white rice and brown rice is huge. white rice is basically 94% starch. brown rice though is 25% other stuff, proteins and essential fats and minerals and vitamins antioxidants, all kinds of stuff. reporter: dr. green launched the white out campaign to rid stores of baby bowls of white rice cereal entirely by next thanksgiving. we asked the number one seller of white rice cereal in the country, gerber, what they think about the campaign. they tell us they re not aware of any scientific study that white rice contributes to childhood obesity and welcome the opportunity to review any relevant scientific data. but not all doctors are convinced. dr. keith ayoob, a pediatric nutritionist, says imprinting in