Breast milk, formula and obesity?

[summer rain]

There are also health advantages for mothers who BF such as a lowered risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. There is also less risk of developing osteoporosis later in life. These are rarely, if ever mentioned. Xx

 

[Dragonfly]

Sadly when advantages of breastfeeding come up people start shooting them down and getting offended. I found this a lot when trying to post information on facebook pages. Its almost something you dont talk about now. Also immune system is something thats also not mentioned.

 

[aliss]

Every time one of these studies comes out, it seems to cause controversy. Yes, most bottle fed/formula fed babies thrive just perfectly fine, but it's simply common sense that breastmilk has advantages on average over artificially produced replacements. That is not a shocker. Yet people spend soooo much time and effort trying to debunk these studies.

Yeah I totally agree. I have done both - FF the first out of perceived medical need (in hindsight, there werre other ways, but what's done is done) and BF the second. Unfortunately one is at higher risk of certain things than the other, and that's just the way things are.

It's really not rocket science like some want it to be. Nature gets most things right, we make substitutes for medical reasons (which some use for personal reasons now), they are not equal, there are risks involved, most women find the benefit outweighs the risk and that's that. It's not much different than other things in life. Statistics exist, they aren't an attack on people, although some people take them as attacks. That's not the fault of a scientific finding but how people respond to information that they may deem critical of their parenting decisions.

And.... the world goes around!

 

[aimee-lou]

Sadly when advantages of breastfeeding come up people start shooting them down and getting offended. I found this a lot when trying to post information on facebook pages. Its almost something you dont talk about now. Also immune system is something thats also not mentioned.

It is sad. I think some people get offended that you're trying to imply some form of stupidity for 'giving up' BFing or similar. I don't think this way. I understand, I just don't want to BF so I'm willing to listen to anything. I think it's amazing that just this one small act can have so many benefits to all involved.

It's the same as the Socio-economic factors are usually left out of any studies so as not to offend people by saying that they may be less intelligent or capable of parenting when in fact it's more about household income or geography when you're talking about general trends in society.

 

[amjon]

I'd say its probably linked to HFCS in formula. It's a shame they put that crap in for babies.

 

[aimee-lou]

I'd say its probably linked to HFCS in formula. It's a shame they put that crap in for babies.

Wow, had to look that up. That's Golden Syrup!

Can't see it listed on my SMA tin (in any of the forms wiki showed up).

But yes, inclined to agree, it is a shame they feel the need to put sweeteners into it in any form.

 

[aliss]

Yup, corn syrup solids #1 ingredient for Alex's enfamil soy

 

[Scout]

We were told the same thing (as in the original post) in the breastfeeding class I went to at the hospital this past week. I think the nurse said it has something to do with overfeeding ff babies. Not sure why else. For me, that is not so much a factor as the most logical...breastmilk is natural and we produce it for a reason. Breastmilk has never been recalled bc they found something in it that shouldn't be there LOL

 

[Dragonfly]

I do believe they dont have to list all ingredients on the tin, there are loop holes.

 

[Tami]

The thing I sometimes hate about these forums is what starts out as an innocent question winds up a bashing thread for one thing or another!

 

[Piper84]

The thing I sometimes hate about these forums is what starts out as an innocent question winds up a bashing thread for one thing or another!

That isn't the case for this one so far so there's no real need to bring up potential negativity.

Really, they put sweeteners in formula? On the one occasion I had to make up formula for LO I tried it and it tasted like metal....

 

[Mum2BKW]

Just had another thought about this with the formula milk - they seem to have different 'levels' of milk, like stage 1,2,3 etc for when baby grows (not sure if all brands are like this, but the ones I have used in the past are). I presume they alter the formula slightly for different needs as baby grows. I wonder if giving the wrong 'stage' of formula milk might contribute somehow? Like if they have a stage higher than they are ready for it might contain too much fat and this could affect baby somehow?

Just a thought, again I'm not suggesting this is the case but it might make sense?

I quite like this thread, it seems to be quite a nice discussion on the topic without being too biased one way or the other

 

[aimee-lou]

Just had another thought about this with the formula milk - they seem to have different 'levels' of milk, like stage 1,2,3 etc for when baby grows (not sure if all brands are like this, but the ones I have used in the past are). I presume they alter the formula slightly for different needs as baby grows. I wonder if giving the wrong 'stage' of formula milk might contribute somehow? Like if they have a stage higher than they are ready for it might contain too much fat and this could affect baby somehow?

Just a thought, again I'm not suggesting this is the case but it might make sense?

I quite like this thread, it seems to be quite a nice discussion on the topic without being too biased one way or the other

Was thinking the same thing but didn't want to jinx it lol.

I have heard of people giving hungry baby for example when it's not required but I don't know whether this would actually under-nourish the child or not (not got enough info on the subject) but it's an interesting theory. I remember giving Earl 'toddler' stage 3 formula when he was about a year and it smelled and tasted pretty much like custard - he wasn't on it long lol.

But, I don't want people to think they shouldn't use these products. Again, they have a time and a place and I've been lucky that my boys have both eaten well (balanced, good quantities etc) from early on, so my reliance on formula isn't/wasn't as great as some.

 

[summer rain]

Just had another thought about this with the formula milk - they seem to have different 'levels' of milk, like stage 1,2,3 etc for when baby grows (not sure if all brands are like this, but the ones I have used in the past are). I presume they alter the formula slightly for different needs as baby grows. I wonder if giving the wrong 'stage' of formula milk might contribute somehow? Like if they have a stage higher than they are ready for it might contain too much fat and this could affect baby somehow?

Just a thought, again I'm not suggesting this is the case but it might make sense?

I quite like this thread, it seems to be quite a nice discussion on the topic without being too biased one way or the other

They all have similar levels of fat to each other, well those designed for use within the first year not sure about those designed for toddlers. It is the casein/whey ratio and iron content that may really vary between the different stage formulas. In the UK cows' milk formulas do not contain artificial sweeteners but soya and other non-dairy formulas do have the lactose replaced with glucose syrup solids which are similar to HFCS. The casein/whey ratio and the ratio of different types of fats and fatty acids differs quite considerably between formula and breastmilk though not as much as with plain cows' milk and breastmilk. Up until the mid to late 1970s most formulas available were just dried cows' milk with vitamins added they had not been modified in any way, consequently these formulas put a lot of strain on babies' kidneys especially as this was compounded by a trend for making formula over strength. A lot of babies were admitted to hospital with electrolyte imbalances and it was thought at the time that sodium overload was potentially a cause of SIDs though not sure if this was ever strongly proven.

Formulas do lack in medium chain fatty acids and it seems no real efforts are made to add these to formula despite them being one of the most important plus points of breastmilk, instead formula companies focus on adding LCPs to their products which legitimise them charging more for them as they are expensive ingredients but evidence of real benefit from neutral studies is scant and a few studies have shown potential negative implications of adding LCPs in artificially on the UNICEF baby friendly site they have links to studies showing that LCPs could result in less growth in height by 18 months of age and I have seen studies and anecdotal reports from staff in SCBUs suggesting gastrointestinal problems from LCPs as well. My local SCBU had to ditch aptamil as it was really aggravating reflux problems in prem babies-because aptamil contains artificially high levels of fish oils xx

 

[Piper84]

Where I am a healthy child is an over weight one. They like fattening kids up for some reason which is why mine get so many comments on not being fat. Its annoying. Least the hv scrapped weighing them when my second was born. Family are scathing, all have weight problems. All formula fed or formula feeding.

Your kids look bonny and healthy! My LO is on the slim and long side but no doctor has ever mentioned it being a problem

 

[Smudge101]

Neither me or my brother were breastfed and neither of us are overweight let alone obese.

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

There are studies that show this yes. I am sure there is some truth. Although all 3 of us were formula fed and none of us are overweight. My youngest was breast feed for the early stages of his life and he is heavier than my eldest was at his age x

 

[MindUtopia]

As I'm sure everyone else has said, population level studies can only show tendencies that exist between doing 'A' and experiencing 'B' among a large number of people, but they aren't predictive at the individual level. There are lots of other factors involved in being overweight or obese. It doesn't mean if you give your baby formula it will be overweight, but it does increase the chance of it, all other things being equal (but in the real world, all other things aren't equal).

I was fed formula after 4 months and I'm not overweight, but I do have a slightly greater risk of being overweight than, say, someone who was exclusively breastfed. But some of the new research that's come out recently shows that the connection might be related more to bottle feeding than to formula feeding, as babies who are bottle fed breast milk tend to have more issues with overweight and obesity later in life than breastfed babies who feed only from the breast. If you want my opinion, I think this relationship also has a lot to do with not feeding on demand and forcing a baby to finish a bottle even when he/she is showing signs of being full. If you do bottlefeed, listening to your baby's hunger cues is really important. All that said, breast milk is the best thing you can feed a baby, whether from the breast or bottle, and I believe this even though I now have to formula feed my daughter.

 

[MrsTurner2012]

If a kid or adult is gonna get fat I think it's more down to genetics along with how they are educated about food and such rather than BF or FF.

My son was BF for 6 weeks and then FF.

He does pile on lbs if he's not careful we found out over a summer holiday but a few months of education about calories and exercise he now knows his limits.

 

[rachie2011]

I was formula fed as a baby and so were my siblings and none of us were overweight as children or even now. Whether there is a 'link' or not i think it's fair to say that that isn't the full picture. A childs diet/lifestyle has a lot to do with it aswell and parents are in control of that. x