Sabtu, 07 Mei 2011

HEALTH NEWS

 To Avoid Adult Obesity Stop Bottle-Feeding At 18 Months
If you want to reduce your baby's chances of becoming an obese adult you should not continue bottle-feeding him/her beyond 12 to 18 months of age, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine reported in the Journal of Pediatrics. Many parents tend to prolong bottle-feeding because they say it pacifies and comforts the child.
The authors add that even the risk of obesity at kindergarten age is higher for babies who were bottle-fed for too long.
A typical 8-ounce baby bottle with whole milk has approximately 150 calories; about 12% of most baby's daily requirements. When children over 18 months old have already met their daily nutritional requirement, giving them that bottle adds to their excess calories. A toddler needs two or three dairy servings per day, or the equivalent of between 16 to 24 ounces of milk.

A child who relies too much on milk may miss out on essential nutrients, such as iron, which are present in solid foods.
Toddlers (over 18 months) do not feed from the bottle like infants do. An infant's bottle is removed as soon as he has had his fill, while toddlers walks around with theirs, drinking on the go.
Co-author, Keith Ayoob, said:
"Unfortunately that has consequences: they (parents) get in the habit of giving the bottle or giving food to manage children's behavior. It sets up a dynamic of the kids getting food for reasons that have much less to do with hunger or appetite than behavior issues."


Researchers from Temple University say toddlers should be weaned off the bottle between 12 and 14 months. They believe pediatricians should be more proactive regarding giving this type of nutritional advice to parents.
Child obesity is becoming a serious public health problem in the USA. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says that over the last three decades child obesity has more than tripled. 6.5% of 6 to 11 year-olds in 1980 were obese, in 2008 the figure stood at 19.6%. In 1980, about 5% of 12 to 19 year olds were obese, in 2008 the rate jumped to 18.1%.

In the vast majority of cases, obesity occurs when people consume more calories than they can burn off in one day. Several factors raise the risk of obesity, such as eating too much, eating the wrong foods, some medications, genetics, physical inactivity, and not sleeping enough.

According to data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, involving 6,750 participants in Ohio, 22% of toddlers were still drinking from a bottle when they were two years old. 23% of 5-year-olds who had been bottle-feeding for too long were obese, compared to 16.1% of those who were weaned off earlier.
From around 12 months of age onwards, most children can hold a cup and drink from it, and no longer need to use a bottle. By the age of 12 months the bottle is no longer a nutritional requirement, it has other perceived benefits for the parents.


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