Introducing Infants to Solid Foods Later May Reduce Obesity
As a mother, one of the best things you can do for your baby is to breastfeed. We know that breastfeeding is a safe, time-proven feeding method that helps infants to have a healthful start in life. Breast milk is easily digested by a newborn’s immature system and naturally contains many of the vitamins and minerals a baby needs. Breast milk also contains antibodies that can protect against some common childhood illnesses and infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends that babies be breastfed exclusively for the first six months, but studies show that children who are breastfed for longer reap lasting benefits.
Australian researchers followed 2,366 infants born to women enrolled in a pregnancy study and found that those who were breastfed for longer than six months were able to cope better with stress and had a lower risk of mental health problems later in life. And a new study shows that the later an infant is introduced to solid food, the less their chance of being obese as an adult.
One-third of America’s children are obese or at risk of becoming obese. As they get older, these kids will be at an increased risk of developing many serious chronic diseases that are prevalent in our country today, such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain kinds of cancer. This means that large numbers of overweight children may have a shorter life span than their parents. Previous studies have suggested that breastfeeding protects against obesity, though the data are not yet conclusive.
To find out more about how infant feeding habits affect obesity risk, Dr. Kim Fleischer Michaelson of the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues looked at a sample of 5,068 men and women born in Copenhagen between 1959 and 1961. At that time, Michaelson noted, parents were instructed to start their infant on solid foods between four to six months of age, but many started sooner. Half of the participants were breastfed for at least two and a half months, while half started eating solid food at three and a half months of age or later. Seventeen percent of the babies started spoon feeding before two months of age, while 46 percent didn’t start until they were four months old or later.
At one year, babies who were breastfed for longer had lower body mass indexes (BMIs), standard measures used to gauge a person’s body fat, but no association was found between the duration of breastfeeding and BMI in later childhood, adolescence or adulthood. However, the age at which infants were introduced to various types of food did seem to have an effect on BMI in adulthood. “In our study, the risk of overweight at age 42 years was reduced by 5 percent to 10 percent for each month introduction of complementary foods was delayed,” Michaelson explained.
“I think it is best to wait with complementary foods until the infant is about 6 months old, but there is no reason to be too rigid about the age,” he added. “Some infants will need complementary foods before the age of 6 months, but they should not get them before four months of age.” The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says babies should be breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months. Beyond that, the AAP encourages breastfeeding until at least 12 months and longer if both the mother and baby are willing.
