Infant vials increase overweight risk

Vial-sucking increases the risk of overweight in childhood

07/05/2011

Toddlers who still suck on the vial regularly at the age of two are at considerably higher risk of becoming overweight or obese during childhood.

The US research group led by Rachel Gooze of Temple University, Philadelphia, found a link between infant sucking and the risk of overweight and obesity in infants. Infants who regularly receive their vials in their second year of life are more likely to be obese at the age of five and a half than children whose diet has previously been switched to solid foods, the US scientists report in the current issue of the „Journal of Pediatrics“.

Obesity and obesity are relatively common in modern industrialized countries, and not only in adults, but children are also more likely to experience significant weight problems. About every sixth to seventh child in the opinion of the health authorities in Germany too many kilos on the scales, six percent of adolescents are obese. According to the results of the US researchers, in addition to poor nutrition and genetic predisposition, vial sucking also has a significant influence on the risk of overweight and obesity in infants.

Vaccine children are subject to a 30 percent overweight risk
The US scientists around Rachel Gooze have evaluated in their study, the medical data of 6,750 children, thereby checking the relationship between the risk of obesity and sucking on the vial. The data, children born in 2001 in the US, were recorded in a comprehensive long-term study and allowed a review of the relationships between the period in which infants suck on the vial and the body weight in later childhood. For example, the US researchers found that 22 percent of the examined children received their vials regularly until the age of two. The food intake was primarily through the vial or they were given a drink in the bottle by their parents at bedtime. Twenty-three percent of vial children were overweight at the age of five and a half, while those who stopped using vials at the age of two were only 16 percent overweight, the US researchers report. The relationship between vial suckling has also been confirmed, taking into account other factors such as the baby's birth weight, the mother's breastfeeding habits, and the mother's weight, said Gooze and colleagues. „Children who were still sucking on a vial at two months had a 30 percent increased risk of being overweight at 5.5 years“, said Robert Whitaker of Temple University in Philadelphia. However, factors such as the physical activity of the children and the detailed composition of the diet are not taken into account, according to the statement of the US researchers.

Overweight risk increases due to habituation to excessive calorie intake
As the cause of the increased risk of overweight due to the longer vial nipple comes primarily the habituation of the body to the increased calorie intake in question, said the US researchers. The regular calorie-containing vials, even at the age of two, may result in more calories being consumed by the children than they need, increasing the risk of being overweight and obese as early as infancy. This risk is particularly high in the administration of calorie-containing drinks, so the assumption of the US researchers. Study leader Rachel Gooze explained: „A two-year-old girl of average height and weight, who gets about 240 milliliters of milk in bed in the evening, covers about twelve percent of her calorie needs.“ Thus, the body is accustomed to a significantly excessive calorie intake and the children tend to later in life to absorb more calories than their body can use.

Sugared drinks in the vial increase the caries risk
Another problem, according to US researchers, is that some parents give their children sweetened drinks in their vials. These not only contain extra calories and increase the risk of overweight, but are often cause of tooth decay, as the first teeth of infants are particularly affected by the constant flushing with sugary drinks. Therefore, according to the US researchers should be dispensed with sugary drinks in general. In addition, the results of her recent study suggest that children from their bottle after their first birthday urgently to wean, so the conclusion of Gooze and colleagues. (Fp)

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Picture: Powerhouse