Abstract
A survey of feeding patterns and nutrient intake in relation to the growth of 300 normal infants up to 1 year of age in Dudley, Worcestershire, highlights a problem of overnutrition in the group; 50 (16·7%) were found to be suffering from infantile obesity and a further 83 (27·7%) were overweight.
During the first three months of life the daily energy intakes of 136 cal/kg body weight for boys and 149 for girls were markedly greater than the level of 120/kg recommended by the Department of Health and Social Security. This coincided with the early addition of solid foods to a full milk intake. 119 babies (39·7%) were offered solids before they were 4 weeks old and 280 (93·3%) before 13 weeks of age. Some babies had solids from the first week after birth. Protein intake was persistently high throughout the first year, and the mean intake of 32·7 g/day was much greater than the intake of 20 g for infants aged up to 1 year recommended by the Department of Health. Standards for fat and carbohydrate intake are not available but in comparison with the levels reported in breast-fed babies intake of fat and carbohydrate was high in the first three months and came closer to the desired level for the former and remained slightly high for the latter in the subsequent age quarters.
The relation of childhood and subsequent adult obesity to infant feeding patterns is not yet clear, but there is a high correlation between obese parents and obese and overweight babies; had these babies not been overfed the condition might have been prevented.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Asher P. Fat babies and fat children. The prognosis of obesity in the very young. Arch Dis Child. 1966 Dec;41(220):672–673. doi: 10.1136/adc.41.220.672. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Knittle J. L., Hirsch J. Effect of early nutrition on the development of rat epididymal fat pads: cellularity and metabolism. J Clin Invest. 1968 Sep;47(9):2091–2098. doi: 10.1172/JCI105894. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MULLINS A. G. The prognosis in juvenile obesity. Arch Dis Child. 1958 Aug;33(170):307–314. doi: 10.1136/adc.33.170.307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- THOMSON J. Observations on weight gain in infants. Arch Dis Child. 1955 Aug;30(152):322–327. doi: 10.1136/adc.30.152.322. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tanner J. M., Whitehouse R. H., Takaishi M. Standards from birth to maturity for height, weight, height velocity, and weight velocity: British children, 1965. II. Arch Dis Child. 1966 Dec;41(220):613–635. doi: 10.1136/adc.41.220.613. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WOLFF O. H. Obesity in childhood; a study of the birth weight, the height, and the onset of puberty. Q J Med. 1955 Apr;24(94):109–123. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- YOUNG C. M., CHALMERS F. W., CHURCH H. N., CLAYTON M. M., TUCKER R. E., WERTS A. W., FOSTER W. D. A comparison of dietary study methods; dietary history vs. seven-day record. J Am Diet Assoc. 1952 Feb;28(2):124–128. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]