The Internet is up in arms over a recent video posted by the star of the movie ‘Clueless,’ Alicia Silverstone, on her website. The video is of Silverstone pre-chewing food for her son, Bear Blu, and then feeding him like a bird. She puts the food from her mouth into the mouth of her son. Bear Blu is 10-months-old. Silverstone posted the video on her website, The Kind Life, so she could explain the way she feeds her son like a mother bird feeding a baby bird.
“I fed Bear the mochi and a tiny bit of veggies from the soup…from my mouth to his,” Silverstone wrote on her website. “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!”
The video did not need that long to go viral on the internet and then the gross comments began to fly as well. The video has created some buzz that is not only negative but also positive. Premastication is an ancient tradition practiced by birds all across the world and it even exists in plenty of societies today.
“Every time New Yorkers have seen this in mass media before, it has generally been a gross-out joke, played for laughs,” was written by CBS New York on its website.
“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,” said USA Today.
Some experts around the world claim that this process is not that uncommon, especially when a child is being weaned from eating from the breast. They also note that before commercial baby food took over and the Cuisinart became popular, this method was used by mothers across the world. Researchers say that premastication is actually a nutritious method of feeding young children because it offers iron, improved digestion for infants and an increased immunity. Gretel H. Pelto, Jean-Pierre Habicht and Yuanyuan Zhang wrote an article in the 2010 issue of Maternal & Child Nutrition that this method offers a crucial role in the health of infants. They also argue that abandoning this method in poor societies can lead to threats to infant nutrition.
Then, on the other side of things, some health officials believe that premastication could lead to diseases being transmitted, especially the spread of the virus HIV. The fans of the actress tend to agree with those who approve of premastication. In the comments section of Silverstone’s website, a debate is raging about her video. Despite the debate, many commenters are agreeing with her stance.
“This is one of the SWEETEST and most pratical things I have EVER SEEN!!!” says one of the commenters “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!!!”
