3rd Trimester
kxp004
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Bottles = Obesity???
kxp004
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Has anyone heard about this? The news was reporting that a study or some studies have linked children who are still drinking from bottles at age two are at a higher risk for childhood and adult obesity....anyone know about the accuracy of this or the actual risk???
I have no clue what study they are talking about or anything about it... I thought it was suggested that you breastfeed for 2 years--how is that different from bottle feeding for two years whether it's pumped breastmilk or formula??
NOTE: This post is not about whether or not it is healthier to BF or FF, just about the study findings and related thoughts...
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Re: Bottles = Obesity???
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I found these two articles when I went looking for the study you mentioned.
https://baby.about.com/b/2011/02/07/preschool-obesity-rates-differ-based-on-breastfed-or-formula-fed-status.htm
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20110505/bottle-feeding-at-age-2-raises-obesity-risk
Landon & Porter
1-10-07 & 5-11-11
Ok I get what you're saying, but let's say change the bolded word to BF and leave the rest of everything you said the same... would that change the obseity part of the equation? or is it JUST BOTTLE FEEDING? and then what if you use breast milk instead of formula??.....just curious...
I guess I would say that bottle is the operative word regardless the content. At two, a toddler should be learning table manners and eating with utensils, drinking out of cups and having a big boy/girl nighttime routine. There really is no reason a child that old would be given a bottle any time of the day besides the parents using it as a pacifier.
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Sorry, butting in here I know. I just wanted to add another perspective to this. It really has nothing to do with the obesity part of this thread, just in reference to the bolded part above. My son has a feeding tube because he has a genetic condition that makes him severely allergic to 95% of food. Because of the pain eating has caused him in the past, he also has a severe oral aversion. So, even though he is nearing two years old, he still gets a bottle whenever he is willing to take it. If he isn't willing, his specialized formula goes in his feeding tube.
I am not being snarky in anyway. I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of reasons that older toddlers may still have bottles. I have been judged, and not too nicely, many times out in public because of this. I only hope to shed another light onto this to maybe save another mother of a special needs child from judgement as well.
Sorry this turned into a novel. Also, I am not naive enough to think that it is never for the reason bolded above, just that it isn't always the case. Okay, I will butt back out now.
this.
My DS ate formula out of a bottle (BFing fail after 2 months) and is a skinny little thing...but tall. I can say that my cousin's baby who was exclusivly BF...no bottles...is the chubbiest little kid I have ever seen. He has been in toddler sizes since he was 7 months old!
And DS was weaned off the bottle by 9 months.
From what I could gather they are talking about feeding children formula/milk/or any drink with calories in it - euphemistically calling it 'bottle feeding'. And the study mentions the issue of 'overfeeding' a child - in other words any bottle with calorie content given at night is likely to lead to 'overfeeding' the child.
I know a lot of parents think that it will make their kids sleep better at night by loading them up with formula/milk -- but it has two major negative effects -- messes up their teeth (sugar and also softening the teeth because children often fall asleep with milk in their mouths - https://www.thenewparentsguide.com/article-your-babys-teeth.htm) and also leads to being obese. They should be getting most of their calories from being weened at this time and if you give them tons of milk and formula they don't have room in their bellies for food. By age 2 they can switch from full fat milk to lower fat percentages without being an issue to their diet.
As to the breastfeeding vs bottle - you are likely to be weaning at this point as well so the amount of breast milk you are producing is going down. Human milk vs cows milk (and formula) has different make up - fat and sugar contents are hugely different and one is designed to be digested by our systems vs the other which we acclimatise ourselves to being able to digest.
If it is a question of being thirsty there is nothing wrong with giving them some water in a bottle - the study touches on the fact that we tend to put calorie content in the bottles.
I don't think there is any justification for giving them juice except as a treat - and then only if no sugar is added and only as a treat. If you look at the number of empty calories that we North Americans consume via beverages it is the most logical place to start to cut out excess calories and chemicals. I personally struggle to get enough water in my diet (which is a habit I have from childhood where we never drank water but ALWAYS had juice or milk - as was the custom for most everyone at the time) and wanted to be sure with my kids that they wouldn't have that problem. It is great - we all drink water together.