Should Your Baby Be on a Diet?

By Jenn Savedge, MNN

Should a baby be put on a diet? A new study seems to think so. In fact, a team of U.S. doctors has urged that obesity screening start in the cradle after a study showed that half of U.S. children with weight problems became overweight before age 2.

According to the study, published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, the “critical period for preventing childhood obesity” is “the first two years of life and for many by 3 months of age.”

How did the researchers come to these conclusions? They looked at 480 medical records for patients between the ages of 2 and 20 at two medical practices in Virginia. The intent of the study was to pinpoint the “tipping point” for weight issues in children. According to the study, the median age for when the children in the study became overweight was 22 months. One quarter of the children in the study reached their overweight “tipping point” at or before 5 months of age.

As a result, the researchers recommend that health care providers begin screening for excessive weight gain “as early as possible” to prevent childhood obesity, rather than trying to reverse a weight problem that has “spiralled out of control.”

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Read more: Babies, Children, Family, General Health, Health, obesity, weight

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Mary Beth M.

12:48PM PST on Feb 7, 2012

Very scary advice. Babies need fat for neurological development. What they don't need is junk food. I am often in awe of what some moms consider 'food' as soon as the child is able to eat solid food or table food. Feed children wholesome healthy food... and omit the Poptarts, sugary cereals, cookies, candy, etc, that I see way too many babies, as young as 12 months, eating as staples of their daily diets. Forget about the whole concept of 'diet', as it has a pejorative connotation...feed babies real food, as much as they want!

send a green star

Ann F.

8:05PM PST on Jan 14, 2012

A "chubby" baby soon loses that 'baby fat' when they start to walk & run around. Children need: nutrients, vitamins, minerals etc

NO to baby diets!

LAV M.

8:31AM PDT on Oct 5, 2011

All infants and babies are on a diet. First it is a diet of breastmilk and/or formula, then solids are introduced to the diet, usually vegetables and fruits, with meat being added to the diet later.

The word diet refers to what we eat - not necessarily to a slimming diet... The important thing for all age groups is to have a healthy, balanced diet.

The problems arise when mothers add unhealthy foods to the child's diet, or make it unbalanced by allowing too many sugars, etc. I have seen mothers feed their children some things I found quite alarming for a baby or toddler, or in quantities that I would consider excessive.

8:27AM PDT on Oct 5, 2011

Carole R.

7:06PM PDT on Sep 28, 2011

Babies don't need diets. They need breast mild so that the fat cells that do grow will go away. Formula fat cells are there for life and that is a bad start.

Ida J.

7:35AM PDT on Sep 24, 2011

thanks

Susana L.

2:40PM PDT on Aug 10, 2011

Fiona G.

10:23AM PDT on Aug 7, 2011

I don't have children but have 2 niece's & a nephew. I don't think babies should be put on diets as such, but it's about common sense & sensible eating.

JACarlton A.

4:52AM PST on Dec 2, 2010

The sins of the parents... the concept of putting an infant on a diet is sickening.

Megan R.

10:42AM PDT on Aug 31, 2010

Wow. Honestly. I read an article a few months ago about a mother and father who were put in jail for abuse and neglect because they had their infant and toddler on a diet. Admittedly, it was extreme and their kids were starving, but with kids they only have so much weight. Only so much to lose. A few years ago we were concerned with teenagers being on diets because it affects the finishing process of brain development, and now we're talking about baby diets? Makes me want to know where these doctors got their diplomas.