- Amy Brown, associate professor at Swansea University, said youngsters given opportunity to feed themselves are more likely to be adventurous and healthy
- Infants feeding themselves are ‘significantly more’ able to stop eating when full
- Professor’s new book says parents should ‘let them eat as little as they want’
Alice Evans For Mailonline
134
View
comments
Babies whose parents spoon-feed them are more likely to end up overweight or obese than those who feed themselves, a new book claims.
Amy Brown, an associate professor at Swansea University, said youngsters who are given the opportunity to feed themselves are more likely to be adventurous as well as healthy eaters.
She added that parents should not been spoon-feeding children who are older than six months, because those babies are ready to eat solid foods.
Brown’s book, Why Starting Solids Matters, which will be published next week, includes a study of 300 babies’s weight and eating behaviour.
Amy Brown, an associate professor at Swansea University, said babies who are given the opportunity to feed themselves are more likely to be adventurous and healthy eaters (file pic)
It found that infants weaned using a baby-led approach were ‘significantly more’ able to stop eating when they felt full and were less likely to be overweight.
She told the Sunday Times that babies should be allowed to eat as little or as much as they want when learning to feed themselves, and that parent-led spoon-feeding can often lead the children to eat more than they need or want.
She said: ‘Let them eat as little as they want. A jar of baby food is too big for what a little baby needs.
‘Sweet and delicious’: Bec Judd reveals she tasted her own…
How would you feel if you weighed exactly the same as your…
‘When you are waving the spoon around and saying “Here comes the big aeroplane – let’s finish it”, if they clamp their mouth shut, forget about it. They will not starve.’
Brown has been exploring her theory that spoon-fed babies are more likely to be obese for several years.
She co-wrote a study with colleague Michelle Lee in 2014 which compared the weight and eating styles of children weaned using a baby-led approach with those weaned using a traditional spoon-feeding style.
Brown said: ‘Let them eat as little as they want. A jar of baby food is too big for what a little baby needs. When you are waving the spoon around and saying “Here comes the big aeroplane – let’s finish it”, if they clamp their mouth shut, forget about it. They will not starve’
The study used a sample of 298 babies, first looking at how they were introduced to solid foods between six and 12 months.
The researchers then studied the weight and eating behaviour of the same infants between 18 and 24 months.
Brown said the study found infants weaned using a baby-led approach were ‘significantly more’ able to stop eating when they felt full and were less likely to be overweight.
These results were independent of other factors such as mother’s background, birth weight, weaning age and breastfeeding.
At the time of the study, published by the journal Paediatric Obesity, Brown said: ‘This may be explained by the baby being allowed to handle foods, control their intake and eat at their own pace, alongside being exposed to a wider variety of tastes.
‘All of this may promote appetite regulation and healthy weight gain trajectories.’
Reporting on Brown’s 2014 study, NHS Choices said: ‘The study does not show that spoon-feeding causes obesity.’
SIGNS TO STOP SPOON-FEEDING
Every baby is an individual, but there are three clear signs that, together, show your baby is ready for solid foods alongside breast milk or formula. It’s very rare for these signs to appear together before your baby is six months old.
1. They can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
2. They can co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth so they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth, all by themselves.
3. They can swallow food. Babies who are not ready will push their food back out with their tongue, so they get more round their face than they do in their mouths.
Source: NHS Choices
Share or comment on this article
- Prince William and Kate’s housekeeper quits her…
- Man, 19, becomes the 15th suspect to be arrested over…
- I was one of Saudi arms dealer’s ‘ELEVEN pleasure wives’:…
- Victims of holiday massacre that left eight dead: Gunman…
- Manchester bomb survivor takes in the daughter of her…
- ‘Inexperienced’ Spanish BA boss who oversaw cost-cutting…
- Heartbreaking selfie shows the battered face of student,…
- Holidaymakers’ horror as British hit-and-run driver…
- ‘Britain is no longer a reliable partner following…
- Harry Styles tells teenage girl severely injured in the…
- Setting pulses racing! Princess Charlene stuns in scarlet…
- Theresa May to relaunch her election campaign after…
- Pictured: Chemical engineering student and his brother…
- US Navy SEAL skydiver plunges to his death into the…
- ‘We all hate you’: Eighth graders on field trip to…
- Merkel vs Trump: German leader warns that Europe can no…
- Heroic mother saved a stranger’s life by driving him from…
- ‘We are not afraid’: Tens of thousands of courageous…
Comments 134
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.
Close
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.
You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.