IIPM: Whether or not your baby will grow up to be an obese Adult, is partly in your hands!

According to American Dietetic Association and WHO, breast-feeding is necessary for six months, after which it’s ideal to give other food along with breast-feed till 12 months. This practice develops immunity, reduces the risk of asthma, blood pressure and heart diseases. Mothers who subscribe to the trend of quickly giving-up on breast-feeding, should know that it is also beneficial for them as it lowers risk of breast and ovarian cancer, lowers post-partum depression, accelerates the process of shrinking the uterus and thus resume the menstrual cycle, and the calorie expenditure helps mothers return to their pre-pregnancy weight sooner.

Well, promoting breast-feeding doesn’t imply that formula-feed is harmful. It makes for a healthy diet, but it also leads to obesity. Dr. Rahul Nagpal, a pediatrician at Max Healthcare, expounds, “There have been observations and numerous medical papers, which prove that bottle-fed babies, at five years of age, have turned out heavier than those who were breast-fed, reason being that formula milk is tougher to digest than human milk. And formula foods have higher calorie content. Formula food manufacturers try to provide the same nutrients and contents that is present in mother’s milk, although it cannot match up because there are so many components in mother’s milk, which cannot be made otherwise.” Stating other possible reasons for their obesity, Dr. Nagpal said, “In breast-feeding, the intake depends on the baby. In bottle-feeding, the mother will want the baby to finish the entire bottle of milk, thereby over-feeding the baby. Slowly, the baby’s appetite increases, fat cells develop and these fat cells show-up in adolescence.”

So mommies, if you don’t want to spend your midlife fretting about your teen kids fretting about their weight, you know what to do. Or not to do.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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