Children Baby-fed babies often become overweight

Infants should be able to determine how much they eat
Many babies are fed by their parents with a spoon. Researchers now found that spoon-fed babies are more than twice as likely to be overweight compared to infants who eat with their own fingers.

Researchers at Swansea University found in their study that feeding their babies with their parents through the spoon significantly increases the risk of obesity. The doctors published a press release on the results of their study.

Many parents feed their babies only with a spoon for a long time. For example, they want to prevent the children from eating with their fingers and contaminating the entire kitchen. However, experts now find that spoon-fed children are more likely to become overweight. (Image: Reicher / fotolia.com)

Parents often feed too much
When babies are fed by their parents with a spoon, this increases their risk of developing obesity drastically. The reason may be that these infants are simply fed too much food by their parents, says author Professor Amy Brown of Swansea University.

Twice as many spoon-fed babies are overweight
Nearly twenty percent of the subjects fed with the spoon were overweight, compared with only eight percent of infants, who have eaten with their own fingers, explain the physicians. By the age of six months, more than twice as many babies from the spoon-fed group had become overweight. This overweight is independent of other factors such as birth weight, weaning age, breastfeeding and the mother's social background, say the authors of the study.

A jar of baby food is too much for a little baby
Babies should only eat as much as they want. A whole glass of baby food is just too big for a little baby, explains Brown. The author published a book this week, which also includes the study of 300 babies and their feeding habits.

Let your children eat with their fingers
Babies can be overfed by their parents. This usually does not happen when the children eat with their own fingers. In addition, the researchers found that if babies from the age of six months eat different solid foods, the children eat healthier.

Do not force children to eat their meals
Parents do not need to wave their little spoons in front of their baby and tell them to open their mouths because the plane is coming. If the children do not want to continue eating, then try not to motivate the babies further, the experts advise. The infants will not starve just because they do not want to eat the last spoonfuls out of the jar.

Parents need to learn to handle their food properly
Certainly it leads to a great mess on the table when children start to eat themselves. However, when parents worry about their children's messy meals, this is completely unnecessary. Children have to learn the food. They also have to figure out what can happen if they crush their food or drop it on the floor, adds the author.

From the age of six months, meat and rice can also be given
It has already been pointed out earlier that babies over the age of six months should receive a mixture of puree and fodder in addition to breastfeeding. Parents can then slowly introduce more advanced foods, including small pieces of meat and rice, say the experts. (As)