Glossary · Food categories
Whole food
A food eaten close to its natural state: an apple, an egg, brown rice, a piece of fish. Minimally processed if at all. Whole foods generally retain more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than their processed counterparts.
What it looks like on a child's plate
Whole foods are easy to spot: a banana, an egg, a sweet potato, plain yogurt, a piece of salmon, a bowl of oats. For babies from around 6 months, the same foods are just made softer: mashed, steamed until soft, or cut into strips. As children grow, they eat more of the same whole foods the family eats, in bigger pieces. Whole foods also give children practice with real textures: biting, chewing and holding.
Whole fruit or juice
An orange brings vitamin C, and it also brings fiber, water and a juicy bite to practice on. A cup of juice keeps the sugar but loses the chewing and much of the fiber. That's why whole fruit is the everyday choice, and juice waits until after the first birthday, if you offer it at all.
You don't have to cook everything from scratch
Plenty of convenient foods are close to whole: frozen vegetables and fruit, canned beans or fish with no added salt, plain oats, whole wheat bread. A plate with a few whole foods on it, next to a familiar favorite, is a good everyday aim. Some days will be more packaged than others, and that's fine.
Easy whole-food swaps
Small swaps add up over a week:
- Plain yogurt with fruit instead of flavored yogurt.
- A piece of fruit instead of fruit snacks.
- Oatmeal instead of a sweetened cereal.
- Roasted potato wedges instead of chips.
- Water instead of juice.
Read more
References
Related terms
Miriel uses this concept across food scans, meal plans, and AI Coach responses where it is relevant to a child's profile. For the underlying clinical and scientific basis, see the research page.