Feeding babies with solid food early raises obesity risk later

12 February, Xinhua, LOS ANGELES

U.S. researchers have found that feeding babies with solid foods too early was associated with increased odds of obesity later.

Among children who were never breast-fed -- or who stopped breast-feeding before the age of four months, introducing solid foods before four months of age was linked to a sixfold increase in the risk of obesity, said a team of researchers from the Children's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School.

But the timing of solid foods didn't increase the odds of becoming obese in youngsters who were breast-fed. The findings was published on Monday in the online issue of Pediatrics.

In the study, the researchers analyzed data on 847 children enrolled in Project Viva, a long-term study of women and their offspring. The women were initially recruited before the birth of their babies, and they were followed for at least three years. The researchers found that 67 percent of the children were breast-fed and 32 percent were formula-fed. When the youngsters were three years old, nine percent were considered obese.

Babies who were fed formula, and then introduced to solids foods before they were four months old, were 6.3 times more likely to be obese when they were three years old. "Our study results suggest that adhering to the current American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines of waiting till 4 months to introduce solids has the potential to reduce the risk of obesity later on," said study author Dr. Susanna Y. Huh, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the hospital. "Mothers of infants who are breast-fed may better understand and recognize their babies' hunger and satiety cues. Mothers of formula-fed infants may not recognize these as well," explained Huh.

But Huh said it needs further study to understand why the introduction of solids before four months appeared to make such a significant difference for the formula-fed babies.

Previous studies showed that early feeding practices were believed to set the stage for later eating patterns and weight status later in life. But these studies hadn't provided consistent answers as to whether or not the timing of the introduction of solid foods could make a difference in a child's weight later in life, the researchers said.