Want to Prevent Obesity in the Littlest Kids? Breastfeed!
The Institute of Medicines new report on preventing obesity in children from birth to age 5 makes a number of reasonable but hardly surprising recommendations: parents should regularly monitor childrens growth, boost their physical activity and encourage healthful diets.
One recommendation that caught the Health Blogs eye was the committees emphatic endorsement of breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months and then with complementary food until the child is at least 1 year old.
The report recommends that hospitals informational materials show no pictures or text that idealizes the use of breast-milk substitutes, that health professionals shouldnt give formula samples to moms and there shouldnt be any advertising of these products to the general public, in accordance with the World Health Organizations long-standing International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes.
Thats because theres solid evidence showing a link between breastfeeding and a reduction in risk of obesity in childhood, says Elsie Taveras, a committee member and co-director of the Obesity Prevention Program at Harvard Medical School.
The committee felt really strongly about the recommendation that we should be doing more to support the healthiest form of feeding for infants, and thats breastfeeding, Taveras tells the Health Blog.
But the committee also recognizes that many women cant or wont breastfeed, and offers guidelines about the healthiest way to bottle feed as well:
- Only breast milk or infant formula should go in the bottle (no juice or soda ever, and no cows milk until age 1)
- Start with a 4-oz bottle
- The caregiver should hold the bottle; propping it up doesnt let the baby stop feeding
- Look for signs of fullness and dont force the baby to finish the bottle
- Feeding shouldnt be started each time the baby cries
- Babies should be drinking from a cup around 1 years old and no later than 18 months
For more details, including fullness cues for babies of different ages, check out pages 79 and 80 of the report. (The report can be downloaded for free in PDF format.)
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