So there are all these programs on the telly about how we're all fatties, but why aren't they mentioning one of the main causes of preventing obesity?

[theUrbanDryad]

Discuss.

references here and here

tttb, MIL used to do that with her grandkids, following their little mouths round with the bottle when they had tried to turn their heads away. She used to look after ds3 once a week and I wonder whether it was this that put him off bottles for life, making it very awkward for me going back to work!

Sedate lifestyles, too much choice of food, cars/public transport, tv/internet all a big factors

My mothers generation and before thought nothing of walking 2 miles to the shops (with small child by her side) Kids walked to school and played in the street after. Snacks weren't an option, 3 good meals a day. Even housework burned more calories (carpet sweeping, hand washing etc)

Many also breastfed 3/4 hourly, by the clock (as per guidelines)

Having done both (ff and ex bf) I can say mine ff like a bf baby, on demand, as and when they wanted it (a ff baby can go dosy when warm too, so getting them to take that little extra is no different for either

Our children need to be walking and running free, not stucj indoors in fear of the boogy man, if we want to stop the obesity rise. Fresh air, no snacks, nice basic foods (including fats and sugars)

I puree fed ds1 and ds2 at 4 months, it was the recommended age at the time. Ds1 is very skinny, ds2 is a lot chunkier!
I do think it is easier to overfeed a ff baby, some babies will keep guzzling till it's all gone and most parents will add another ounce the next time if they do that. Whereas it takes a lot more effort on the baby's part to to increase supply of breastmilk.

yes you can add another ounce - but it doesn't mean they'll finish it

blimey this thread has grown!

yes "Main causes of preventing obesity" not my most eloquent thread title. but it was late and i'm exhausted.

anyway, we've all talked nicely round the subject of breastfeeding/obesity, but it doesn't really answer my pondering as to why it's not being mentioned on these tv programs. i've emailed C4, but i doubt i shall get a reply.

Perhaps it is not mentioned on these programmes because it is doubtful that it is the main cause of obesity, same with spoon feeding at 4mths. Lots of debate about this but again it is not he main cause of obesity.

Unless you are going to breast feed adults that are overweight I don't see the point of mentioning it on these programmes when trying to sort them out. They need to eat less, eat better and exercise. No magic solutions, nothing to do with the milk they were fed. I do agree that the diet children are fed as they grow up and the examples their parents set with regards to lifestyle do have a lot to do with it.

Oh and I do agree breast is best! in case you wondered.

I agree with expat. Too much food, too much of the wrong type of food and too little exercise = obesity. It's a no brainer.

4 kids. Skinniest is the bottlefed one.
I think its wrong type of food plus cars that leads to obesity.

i agree, the whole obesity thing is being over analysed and over thought

junky snack food far too easily avalable and cheaply... we are a fast food culture, and want instant gratification, we drink more, eat more and move less. it is not rocket science.

children play out less, and computer games and sedentary activities are more common

my DCs were both formula fed, DS is 8.4 and DD is 2.5 , both are on the slender , lean side of the scale.

Perhaps it is the case that bf'ing is a positive factor in self-regulating appetite but this is overwhelmed as children grow up and fall into patterns of eating set by parents and are exposed to junk food. So, even those bf'ing don't necessarily continue the good work started by this process.

"I think its wrong type of food plus cars that leads to obesity."

Yes, I love to snack on a Polo between meals.

Breastfeeding is very important for lots of reasons and it does statistically have some impact on obesity levels but you are only bf for the first 2 or 3 yrs of your life, at most. It doesn't make you immune to the effects of eating and drinking too much the rest of your life and not exercising enough as well.

Re the class debate, there has been a study recently that said the obesity is growing most quickly in the homes of middle class families where both parents are working. Mainly this is because of the use of convenience food and less home cooked food is being served. Also, there is less time to exercise or to encourage children to exercise. That is not to say that middle class children are fatter than working class factor but that obesity is not really a class issue any more. As others have said too many calories and too little exercise make people fat. There are many reasons why this come about but it really is that simple.

Anyone see Jamie Oliver last night? Interesting about the stretch receptors in the jaw, I thought, telling your brain when you're full, and the effort used to eat junk food or ready meals being less than to eat "proper" food because they take less chewing.

Bfing and ffing use different actions and it's pretty well-known that bf takes more "effort" for the baby to get the milk from the breast - I wonder if this is a factor with babies and knowing when they're full?

Just thought it was interesting in light of this thread.

(UD, will email you - hectic here!)

Oh, God, just realised it looks like I'm equating formula with junk food - I truly wasn't!!!

hunker cosmic twin
I though the exact same thing about the receptors when they said that.
I came out of there halo shined, aside from the booze which I am tackling

DP on the other hand was appalled at the aspect of fat that came from one bag of crisps and 3 lattes a day and then he let slip oh the odd Twix too...
And he is always saying, why are you slim, we eat the same...
Yeah dude
Not!

Amazing, the difference it made, wasn't it - that handful of crisps and latte!

I'm very glad I don't drink coffee - I'm sure I'd love the milky ones (prob with choc) if I did! Fortunately, I don't like it At All!

How funny we thought the same thing at the same time!

Just when she waggled the jaw on that skull, I thought, "OMG, that's the open mouth action bfing babies use!".

snap probably cos I had ds2 there doing exactly that LOL
I said to Dp, that's the difference, I treat occasionally - snickers or whateve maybe once a month, he is 3-4 x a week. I buy crisps maybe once every couple of months, nice mixed vege ones in a big bag and eat over the weekend, sharing with the kids and dp.
He eats them most days.
I love coffee but like it very strong and very milky so I only drink it 1-2 x a month.
I snack on dried mango and cashews and digestives.
Plus he is seriously inactive, I'm no gym bunny but one baby and two other kids, you know you ain't sitting on your arse much of the day.
That said I ate shit in my yoof though

I think the difference between FF and BF is that FF is 'heavier' in the stomach so babies grow up associating satiation with a far fuller stoimach than BF babies. Couple that with junk, processed food in a family that has a tendancy to sit in fron of the TV then the poor baby sets off on the pathway to obesity from birth.

Take the same baby, but in a family who eats healthily and don't watch much TV, then the trend could almost be reversed.

Taht's my hotch-potch theory

The research on obseity and breastfeeding is not 100 per cent clear cut, mostly because it is a devil of a job following babies through to childhood, adolescence and beyond and looking at this one factor....IIRC there are some good studies up to about age 6, but beyond then it gets harder. However, we do know that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults, so early feeding is a factor in this sense.

It's not 'harder' for babies to breastfeed, hunker....it's actually easier and the idea that babies have to put in more effort to feed from the breast is one of my unfavourite myths! A well-attached baby and an established milk supply means a virtually effortless transfer of milk, as the letdown of milk (several times a feed) does a lot of the work for the baby as long as he keeps up the swallowing and jaw action.

The idea that it is easier to bottle feed comes from the way you can 'screw' a teat into a baby's mouth without the baby opening up...but the actual action of sucking on the teat requires rather more energy afterwards.

I think it's ONE contributing factor of many and as such deserves to be talked about.

And I don't think anybody should expect the link to be proved or disproved by anecdote - these things never can be.

Sabire - totally agree about anecdote! We can exchange experiences, and that's just fine, but no one's personal story makes any real contribution to settling the question!

I don't think bottlefeeding gas got anything to do with obesity either.

For fucks sake... are you trying to start a row?