Fat Babies Tend to Become Fat Adults

Updated 5.27.2013; reformatted 9.17.2015 Permalink
Overeating learned in infancy, study suggests
YES!!! A thousand times YES!! One of the arguments that Robert Lustig makes in his obesity hypothesis is, "babies don't overeat, the problem in the sugar in their formula/food." But babies DO overeat when their parents over feed them. And over feeding can be subtle. Coaxing the baby to finish the last bit of bottle because you don't want to waste it or put it back in the fridge is one way. Instead of obeying its own instincts (which indicated that the meal was over) the baby then follows the parents' cues of when to eat and how much.

Feeding a child a bottle before bed time so that he won't get up in the middle of the night is another tried and true way to tach a kid to eat even if they aren't hungry. Then the body gets trained to expect those calories and a habit is formed.

Sticking a bottle in the baby's mouth any time it gets fussy (babies do fuss for other reasons) is another way to override the innate appetite.

Formula feeding makes it easier to get into these habits. Breast feeding mitigates a lot of the issues, at least until solid food is introduced. Introducing solid food too early was another way to increase calorie consumption above actual need. Parents rush solid feeding for their convenience as well.

Babies on their own don't get fat. Babies overfed by parents do.

There's nothing wrong with formula feeding if you pay attention to the baby's signs. If the child isn't hungry, don't force it to finish the bottle.

Forcing a kid to clean his plate is the same stupid concept. Yes, kids can be finicky eaters (I have two). But forcing food down there throats just because its on the plate is very bad parenting. And yes, I'm saying that there are MANY very BAD PARENTS in the world. When the parent controls the food that comes into the home and gets put on the plate, then the parent is to blame for the kid's weight.

If you don't buy the crap, then they don't eat the crap. And I'm not talking about creating forbidden fruit or donning an extreme dietary hairshirt and eliminating all sweets and treats. I AM saying that total calories eaten matter, and parents DO control that when the kids are young. And its when they are young that the patterns are set. If they overeat as babies and toddlers when the parent has control, then they will overeat when they are older, because they have learn that amount of food is normal consumption.

And once the once the body expects to eat that much, eating less is very difficult to do. It is much, much easier to put on the weight than to take it off. The best advice is not to get fat in the first place, and for babies and toddlers, this is up to the parents.

Nobody wants to the point the finger at parents, instead, it's all the food companies' fault for making palatable food and selling it at a low cost. Bunk. Don't buy the crap and your kids can't eat it. Of course, to make this work you must prepare your own food. And all that takes is a number of simple recipes.

And while I'm ranting here I will go ahead and address the Yoni Freedhoff, "Parents can't say no," argument. It's not necessary to say no ALL the time. If you don't have the processed crap in your house, then it's not the normal routine to eat it. Then when you go to an amusement park or restaurant, you don't need to feel guilty about letting your kids have something processed. Making absolute rules about food creates forbidden fruit, whereas allowing them as treats lets the kids taste the food but not become used to eating it.

Does this work? It absolutely can. Neither of my kids prefers processed foods as young adults, though they have had unfettered access when we travel. But I have always cooked meals and made lunches for my kids. And when I say cooked, I mean I start with ingredients that can be described by a single word. Meals aren't always fancy, nor is there always a great variety. However, I had control over what went into the meals and therefore into my eats mouths. But even if you prefer to cook with canned or bagged ingredients, you still have more control than if you simply push the box into the microwave and then eat.

Disclaimer