14 DAY TRIAL // Australian health authorities recommend exclusive breastfeeding for babies to six months of age, but despite this, there are children as young as four weeks that are being badly fed.
A new Australian research carried out on 587 women from two Perth maternity hospitals, revealed that nearly one in four mothers started giving her baby high fat, salt and sugar foods, before the baby had six months.
Researcher Jane Scott and her colleagues regularly called the mothers for 12 months from birth to understand how they fed their babies.
The study concluded that nearly 25 percent of mothers started giving their children a poor diet of biscuits, soft drinks and ice-cream.
Associate Professor Scott, of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Flinders University, Australia, said:
“Almost one in four mothers had introduced fruit juice, biscuits and cakes to their infants by six months of age.
“This is a worry because eating habits developed early in life usually continue throughout a person’s lifetime – and an overweight child is much more likely to become an overweight adult.”
Scientists also concluded that babies who started early on solid food, as well as those that had two or more siblings, had a bigger risk of eating high fat, salt and sugar foods by their first birthday.
Another recent Australian survey concluded that up to 20 percent of children aged two to three years are overweight or obese, thus that weight problems in children start very early in life.
“What newborns eat does matter,” said Professor Clare Collins, obesity expert and spokesperson of Dietitians Association of Australia.
“Babies need breast milk, not biscuits, ice-cream and soft drinks.
“Parent need more support to optimize breastfeeding initiation and duration rates, and we need ways to make it easier for parents to feed their children right.”
“Infants and children are dependent on adults to choose the foods that will be best for them.
“Both eating habits and body weight track from childhood into adulthood, so getting off to the right start is crucial.
Parents are the first to influence their children alimentary habits so in order to avoid having an overweight or obese child, they must follow some ground rules.
“Australian parents need specific, evidence-based recommendations on what food and drinks are suitable for newborn babies, similar to the guidelines which are available for children older than five,” said Professor Collins.
She is on of the people that promote breastfeeding, as it is one of the most important factors in the long-term health of newborns.
This study was published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics, AlphaGalileo reports.