On the one year anniversary of Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative to fight childhood obesity, a new study has come out that links infant obesity to the timing of solid food introduction. The study found that children introduced to solid foods (eg. cereal, fruit, peanut butter, vegetables, eggs, and meat) before four months of age were more likely to be classified as obese at the age of three. The researchers also found that children who were breastfed were less likely to be obese at three.
Is it rational to worry about obesity in infants? Possibly. There are strong links between childhood obesity and adult obesity, and Oken, et al. (2007) found that the amount of weight gained during pregnancy was correlated with childhood obesity. Yet studies such as these also smack of media-induced panics, potentially magnifying small effects to improve readership. Overall, a healthy lifestyle continues to be the best predictor of health throughout life. Ms. Obama may have the right idea by encouraging Americans to get moving.
Link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110207-700064.html
Okay, yes, there is a problem with obesity in our nation, namely due to the non-regulated amounts of sugar and fat in all of our food. And the fact that most food we eat is manufactured in a way that sucks all nutritional value right out of it. I think it is ironinc to be living in a society that is imbued, nay founded, on the idea of consumption to then turn around and scold its citizens for consuming (in this case food). additionally, the billion dollar diet industry exploits a nation obsessed with thinness and narrow definitions of what is obese (i mean the BMI is kind or ridiculous when a person is considered obese for being 10 or 20 pounds outside of an ideal weight some panel sets), so it makes sense to tells us how fat we are all the time.
ReplyDeletefurthermore, one has to be almost independently wealthy to purchase organic or whole foods (non-processed), so sometimes i think this is just another attack on poor people.
Hi Sabra. Thank you for the posting. I am alarmed that anyone would feed their infant such foods as peanut butter, etc before four months....It makes me wonder if they are or can afford to take their child to well baby visits where the doctor office provides guidelines for when to introduce foods to the infants diet, which I believe is 6 months old. Until then babies should only be on breastmilk or formula.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder the effects on the infants digestive system to feed them such foods prior to 4 months old.
Also, I agree with Cole's point of the lack of food justice and the schism of our economy engaging us as though we are consumers and increasing food portions to then turn on us and blame us for being overweight, etc...
Interesting article!
Cole & Mildred,
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly a lot of issues entwined in this article. For starters: lack of access to healthy foods and nutritional information, economics of food and food availability (especially in the inner city), cultural issues, discrimination against obese people, and parental anxiety. Although the tone of my post was flippant, I do think this article touches on many points of controversy at the same time.
For example, the study added to the large body of research that has found numerous benefits associated with breastfeeding. Breast milk is, in many cases, freely accessible. Thus, the issue of culture comes into play. Why do parents choose to feed formula to their infants rather than breastfeeding?
I think that information and access are two key tools to improving children's health in America. The only way to subvert the predominant ideology is to make people aware of it, right?
Anyway, I still think that baby is hella cute.
Clearly a posting that struck a chord with several of us. I agree that there is something disturbing with a society that seems at odds with its values. On the one hand, we are told (commanded?) to consume, especially food. Furthermore, as Cole points out, eating healthy requires resources and effort. Simply put, for a parent working two jobs just to make ends meet, it makes perfect sense to purchase a ready-made hamburger that requires little time and costs less than what most of us would consider a healthy meal. The deck is stacked against us all, but especially the poor, for whom obesity is a serious problem. How ironic! In other parts of the world, poor people are far from obese (though perhaps equally malnourished).
ReplyDeleteI would love a link to the articles claiming this. Is it truly a causal relationship that introducing the food before 4 months causes a problem, or is there something else about the situation that would better explain it? When children are breastfed is it because their mother believes in breastfeeding, or that it is cheaper than buying formula, therefore leading to a problem in SES and not the actual food. Really, I'm just curious if the researches got the causal relationship right.
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ReplyDeleteKallie: Unfortunately, Pediatrics requires a subscription to read the full article, and Mills doesn't subscribe to it. Here's a link to a page with the executive summary that may help you answer your questions: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/109/2/194
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