Infant feeding practices and obesity
Himes, J.H.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association 75(2): 122-125
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-8223 PMID: 458075 Document Number: 152866
Modern artificial infant feeding practices were found to produce larger weight gains than breast feeding. Although some artificial baby foods have considerably greater caloric density than breast milk, a large class of baby foods and most milks and formulas are comparable to breast milk in caloric density. The minimal volume of high-calorie food results in greater calorie intake than the maximum volume of low-calorie food. In industrialized countries, there seems to be little difference in weight gain between breast-fed and bottle-fed infants during the first 3 months of life; from 3 to 6 months, weight gains tend to be greater in artificially fed infants. In developing nations, breast-fed infants exhibit greater weight gains and lower mortality. Maternal attitudes toward feeding practices may be responsible for weight gains in infancy.