Prolonged Bottle Feeding Increases the Risk of Obesity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110505083116.htm

http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/home.jsp?sgCountry=US&sgCountry=US

Experts agree that obesity prevention should begin before children enter school. A new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that limiting long term bottle use in children may be an effective way to help prevent obesity. Dr. Robert Whitaker and Dr.Rachel Gooze analyzed data from 6750 children to estimate the association between bottle use at 24 months of age and the risk of obesity at 5.5 years of age.

Of the children studied, 22% were prolonged bottle users. At 2 years of age they used a bottle as their primary drink container and/or were put to bed with a calorie-containing bottle. Nearly 23% of the prolonged bottle users were obese by the time they were 5.5 years old. "Children who were still using a bottle at 24 months were approximately 30% more likely to be obese at 5.5 years, even after accounting for other factors such as the mother's weight, the child's birth weight, and feeding practices during infancy," Dr. Whitaker notes.

Drinking from a bottle beyond infancy may contribute to obesity by encouraging the child to consume too many calories. "A 24-month-old girl of average weight and height who is put to bed with an 8-ounce bottle of whole milk would receive approximately 12% of her daily caloric needs from that bottle," Rachel Gooze explains. She notes that weaning children from the bottle by the time they are 1 year of age is unlikely to cause harm and may prevent obesity. The authors suggest that pediatricians and other health professionals work with parents to find acceptable solutions for stopping bottle use at the child's first birthday.

I found this article to be very interesting, it will definitely make me think twice about feeding my future children from a bottle, even before the 24 month mark. I know not all mothers have the ability to Brest feed but this may make them think twice about that option. Brest feeding eliminates the difficult task of weaning a child off a bottle, and if you skip the bottle all together and go right to a sippy cup or only break out a bottle when it's absolutely necessary (like if you had to leave a Brest feeding baby with a sitter for a few hours) it makes it easier to eliminate them and you would be decreasing your child's risk for obesity. I personality don't think baby's should go to bed with a bottle, to me that's like asking them to be over weight. Just like adults shouldn't eat right before bed because the calories have no where to go and they just sit in your body all night and contribute to weight gain, so I think that concept makes perfect sense. I think is article gives good insight to an issue many parents aren't aware of.