#38: In Nigeria, babies are traditionally weaned using a food called pap. It’s a cornmeal mixed with water type of cereal that will certainly fill a baby up, but a dish that lacks important nutrients that babies need for adequate growth and development.   Latifat Okara is working to change this. Through her company Nomnom Babies, Latifat is helping to educate primary care providers and parents about the wider array of wholesome foods that babies CAN and SHOULD be eating when starting solid foods.    In this interview Latifat shared some INCREDIBLE stories about how her own daughter was failing to meet her growth milestones because of limited variety and reliance on high carbohydrate staple foods that were failing to provide her with adequate nutrition..and how that experience led her to start incorporating other traditional foods into the weaning process like crayfish and brown beans and egg yolk and plantain…   And I think you are really going to enjoy Latifat’s message - which is essentially that babies CAN eat so many more foods than we often give them credit for. In Nigeria 1 in 5 children is malnourished, and as Latifat will share in this episode - through the processes of unlearning and relearning she is working to redirect how drivers like racial discrimination, cultural beliefs, poverty and maternal education determine food choices and preferences for families in underserved parts of Nigeria.     If you’re ready to raise an independent eater and prevent picky eating then let’s get started learning about baby-led weaning together! Subscribe, rate and review the podcast here.   FREE BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS ONLINE WORKSHOP: https://babyledweaning.co/workshop?utm_source=Shownotes&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=Episode%20Link   FOLLOW @BABYLEDWEANTEAM ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/babyledweanteam/   SHOWNOTES FOR THIS EPISODE: https://blwpodcast.com/38 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices