12/01/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, US // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan

West Palm Beach, FL—While it is no secret that childhood obesity has grown to become an evident problem in the United States, notably affecting one in 10 children under the age of 2, some weight-watching parents are taking their fat-phobias to a new level. According to information provided by the Sun Sentinel, pediatricians throughout the nation are discovering that “more and more parents are putting their babies on diets.”

Reporters, Mommy bloggers and pediatricians have begun discussing a new trend, in which some parents are taking the concept of weight watching to a whole new level.

One obesity prevention technique used by some parents apparently entailed the substitution of baby formula and/or breast milk with water.

According to Jessica Katz, a blogger with nomlogic.com, “As shocking as it sounded to me at the time, I’ve since learned that putting babies on diets is fairly common.”

“People get caught up in a baby’s growth percentile and are disappointed when they have bigger babies,” Katz added.

The trend is alarming, considering that babies do not function in the same way as older children and adults.

While emotional, environmental or social aspects may influence the eating patterns of older kids and adults, infants, who are naturally instinctive, only eat when they are hungry.

In one extreme example, Good Morning America described a mother putting her 1-year-old daughter on a diet, though the child is reportedly of normal weight.

That mother, who was not identified, contended “she doesn’t want her [daughter] to go through life with the same obsessions about weight that have consumed her.”

Ironically, it appears that by placing her child on a diet at such an early age, the mother was already setting the grounds for such fixations.

Some doctors seemed to claim that parents might be more likely to place their young children on diets if they too had problems with weight loss.

According to Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ nutrition committee and chief of neonatology at the Medical College of Georgia, “I have seen patients putting their infant and 1 year old on diets because of history in one parent or another.”

In conclusion, it remains known that for babies to develop properly, they must be nourished properly.

Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan.

Media Information:

Address:
Phone: (866) 598-1315
Url: Sandra Quinlan: West Palm Beach Injury News