Actress chewing food for baby

Alicia Silverstone Posts Video Of Her Pre-Chewing Food For Her Toddler

Local News

March 28, 2012 / 11:15 PM / CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Every time New Yorkers have seen this in mass media before, it has generally been a gross-out joke, played for laughs.

Mario Batali and Jon Stewart did it on "The Daily Show." "Saturday Night Live" has done it twice: once with Bill Murray, Brian Doyle Murray and Chevy Chase. Years later, Julianna Margulies, Will Ferrell and crew took up the pre-chewing bit.

But now, actress Alicia Silverstone has released a video that may make people wonder if she's really clueless when it comes to feeding her children.

Silverstone posted a video in which she pre-chews the food of her toddler son Bear Blu and then discharges it into his mouth, like a bird.

The video was posted on her site, "The Kind Life." Her site is an extension of her book, "The Kind Diet."

"I will be sharing all kinds of tasty morsels with you," Silverstone wrote on the site, explaining it's mission. "By the time you're done with your visit, your mouth will be watering and you will surely want to crash here forever."

"This website is fantastic resource for those who want to delve deeper into the world of healthy, green, eco friendly living," she wrote.

The post that caused a ruckus is entitled "home video: breakfast with baby bear."

"I just had a delicious breakfast of miso soup, collards and radish steamed and drizzled with flax oil, cast iron mochi and nori wrapped outside, and some grated daikon. Yum! I fed Bear the mochi and a tiny bit of veggies from the soup... from my mouth to his. It's his favorite... and mine," Silverstone posted.

"He literally crawls across the room to attack my mouth if I'm eating. This video was taken about a month or 2 ago when he was a bit wobbly. Now he is grabbing my mouth to get the food," she posted.

Commenters on Silverstone's site seemed to not make much of an issue of it.

"That is sweet. Who are we to judge? It's not like she is showing a video of herself eating in front of her child while he is starving. She is feeding him like a mother should, and they are both adorable," posted user Amber Harvey.

"Oh, for goodness sakes people, Alicia is feeding her child, not shooting up," posted Jacqueline Pascarl.

The National Institutes of Health has published studies on "premastication."

Just in February, the NIH published a report that documented three cases of HIV transmission attributed to the practice of pre-chewing. According to the report's conclusions, "public health officials and health care providers should educate the public about the potential risk of disease transmission via premastication. "

Another report from September 2011 concluded "Education should include advice to avoid premastication and to seek health advice for oral conditions in the caregiver and child. More studies are needed to better define the extent and risks of premastication, including its possible role in increasing HIV-1 transmission."

The practice of pre-chewing food for infants is more common in other parts of the world.

What do you make of the practice of pre-chewing food for toddlers? What do you make of the video? Sound off in our comments section below.

First published on March 28, 2012 / 11:15 PM

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Alicia Silverstone taps long tradition of pre-chewing baby food

Alicia Silverstone taps long tradition of pre-chewing baby food - CSMonitor.

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Dana Tynan / NBC

Actress Alicia Silverstone, shown here in a publicity photo for the 2003 NBC series 'Miss Match,' appeared in a video pre-chewing food for her 10-month-old son, Bear Blu.

Mary Schwalm/AP

Birds do it...so does Alicia Silverstone, whose video of herself pre-chewing her toddler's food is causing web buzz pro and con. The practice of premastication is ancient and still exists in many societies.

Alicia Silverstone: Birds do it, our ancestors did it. Pre-chewing baby food is a long human tradition not invented by Alicia Silverstone, whose video of her premasticating her toddler's food is grossing out people on the Internet.

By Stephanie Hanes Correspondent

March 28, 2012

The Internet community is buzzing about a video of “Clueless” star Alicia Silverstone pre-chewing food for her 10-month-old son, Bear Blu, and then feeding him out of her own mouth. Ms. Silverstone posted the video on her own site, The Kind Life, and writes about the baby bird-like feeding method for her son.

“I fed Bear the mochi and a tiny bit of veggies from the soup…from my mouth to his,” Silverstone wrote on the site. "It’s his favorite...and mine. He literally crawls across the room to attack my mouth if I’m eating. This video was taken about a month or 2 ago when he was a bit wobbly. Now he is grabbing my mouth to get the food!”

It didn’t take long for the scene to go viral, and not much longer after that for the grossed-out comments to start.

“Every time New Yorkers have seen this in mass media before, it has generally been a gross-out joke, played for laughs,” CBS New York wrote on its webpage.

“Mayim Bialik doesn't believe in diapers. January Jones takes capsules made of her baby's placenta. And now we have Alicia Silverstone chewing up food and spitting the food into baby Bear's mouth,” noted USA Today.

A few experts, however, have pointed out that pre-chewing food is actually a fairly common technique around the world – especially during the weaning process – and that until the modern days of commercial baby food and the Cuisinart, most mothers used the technique.

Indeed, premastication is considered a fairly nutritious way of feeding young children, many researchers say, providing iron, increased immunity and improved digestion for infants. In a 2010 issue of the journal Maternal & Child Nutrition, for instance, authors Gretel H. Pelto, Yuanyuan Zhang, and Jean-Pierre Habicht argue that premastication plays a crucial role in infant health, and that its relatively recent abandonment, particularly in poor societies, is a significant threat to infant nutrition.

Citrus crisis: As an iconic Florida crop fades, another tree rises

At the same time, other health workers believe premastication could transmit disease – and worry, in particular, about the HIV virus.

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Silverstone’s fans tend to agree with the pro-premastication crowd. A debate has started in the comment section of her site, which is dedicated to healthy living, but many are praising her feeding technique.

“This is one of the SWEETEST and most pratical things I have EVER SEEN!!!” writes one commenter who calls herself Lisa. :My Mama used to chew up my food when I was little too!!! Not only are the health benefits magnificent, but the BONDING!!! THAT IS THE BEST PART!!! Are babies are babies for such a short period of time...THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS GIFT!!!”

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Alicia Silverstone feeds her son like a bird - Psychology

Children

The actress gives the child food in a very extravagant way: first she chews the food herself, and then spits into her son's mouth. Moreover, the baby's diet consists of dishes of Japanese cuisine.

The actress gives the child food in a very extravagant way: first she chews the food herself, and then she spits into her son's mouth. Moreover, the baby’s diet consists of Japanese dishes.

5 April 2012 21:48

Alicia Silverstone decided to share with the world the joys of motherhood and the extravagant way of feeding her son Bear Blue. However, instead of sighs of tenderness, her video posted on the Internet caused viewers to experience nausea. And it's not even that she feeds a 10-month-old baby with Japanese dishes like miso soup, grated radish and rice cakes wrapped in nori seaweed, but how she does it. And Alicia does it like a bird, and in the literal sense of the word: she first chews the food, and then spits into her son's mouth.

At the same time, Silverstone assures that Bear is delighted with such feeding and does not let her pass when she eats, demanding to immediately share the food with him. The only dish that the boy is unlikely to ever try in such a form chewed by his mother is meat: the actress is a well-known vegetarian.

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