Bottle feeding linked to obesity?

[LoisLane1980]

Hi all,
Interested to know your thoughts on this research that found that bottle feeding past two was linked to obesity at age 5?
theconversation.edu.au/articles/children-bottle-fed-at-two-years-are-fatter-at-five-study-1381
cheers

It seems that it is parents'stupidity rather than the bottle itself that is making the children fat. Seriously, why would you give 8 ounces before bed if your child is otherwise eating normally? Also, by the age of 2, surely you should be on cow's milk?
The article states the obvious: if anybody overeats, then they'll get fat. wow!

both mine were off bottles around 1 year and were never put to bed with a bottle.

You'd be amazed by how many parents do this though. Almost all the bottle-fed babies I know of were (are) still guzzling bottles of cow's milk before bed. Because my DS was EBF it never occurred to me to give him bottles of milk and he never asked for them because he'd never had them, but my nieces all drink milk at bedtime and they're all a lot fatter than my son.

Thats a bit of a nasty comment, Juneau, and inaccurate. "Guzzling" and "fatter than my son" especially. My 2yo was exclusively bottle fed, still has cows milk at bedtime, and is not obese. Don't judge ff babies.

Do you think this applies to having milk from a cup at bedtime too? I thought it was recommended to still give milk until 2 to make sure they get enough calcium.

Personally I don't think it's the formula that makes a child obese, I think it's all dependant on what they're given afterwards. I know mums that have given a healthy diet after EFF and EBF and have healthy normal weighted children, and mums that have given doughnuts, biscuits and chocolate etc and have overweight children - both BF and FF. FF may increase the chances of obesity with a rubbish diet afterwards but it doesn't create obesity if fed a healthy diet afterwards - but BF is the same.

IYSWIM!

So what if they have milk at bedtime? I was EBF and used to have a milky drink to go to bed with when I was past BF and I've never been obese! Milk alone is not going to make a child fat! Too much crappy food and not enough exercise will make a child fat.

By the way I EBF my DD so no I'm not FF biased!

But if a child is consuming milk instead of water of course it will make them gain extra weight. 8oz of water has 0kcals and 0g of fat but 8oz of full fat cows milk has 149kcals and 7.7g of fat. If a child is having a full diet they don't need milk in such large quantities.

Quoted from the article:-
?A 24-month-old girl of average weight and height who is put to bed with an 8-ounce bottle of whole milk would receive approximately 12% of her daily caloric needs from that bottle,? said co-author Rachel Gooze.

That's quite a bit extra on top of the food they would be eating - after 8 days thats an extra days food

I'm actually trying to stop my 5y/o from drinking milk now as she has adult teeth so is beyond needing milk (from whatever species) as she gets enough dairy through yogurt/cheese. Her serving size is around 2-3oz now unless it is given instead of part of a meal.

Full disclosure - I bf into toddlerhood/childhood but I treat a bf as a meal/snack not as a unless it is a quick comfort nurse. It's part of their diet not a add on.

If a child is consuming milk instead of water then it's not part of a healthy diet.

I agree it's an excessive amount for a 2 year old on a proper diet, but I don't think that bottle feeding = obesity. I think that poor knowledge (or ignorance) = obesity.

Both my dc are eff and neither are overweight in fact if anything are skinny, sadly people spend far too much time judging mothers of ff babies.

here op, have my first ever