Sept. 8, 2022 — New research suggests that infants who are given lactose-reduced infant formulations may be at increased risk of becoming obese in their toddler years. Research shows.
Researchers have been researching for years EstablishedInfants who drink infant beverages are more likely to be healthy than those who don’t. FormulaInstead of Breast milkYou already have an Increased riskObesity. The new study showed that children’s obesity rates were affected by the type of formula they used.
Babies under age 1 who received lactose-reduced formula made partially of corn syrup solids were at a 10% increased risk of being obese by age 2 than infants who received regular cow’s milk formula.
“This is even another reason to not use a low-lactose formula,” says Mark R. Corkins, MD, division chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. “Parents think if babies are fussy, or they spit up, they have lactose intolerance, but if you look at the actual numbers, lactose intolerance in infants is rare.”
Corkins said that parents often complain about their infants being fussy or spitting up and that they believe their babies are. lactose intolerant.
“The reason the low-lactose formulas are even on the market is because parents want them and they think their kid is lactose intolerant, but they are not,” Corkins says, adding that he usually tries to connect these parents with lactation support services like peer programs that can help ease the breastfeeding process.
The data was analyzed by researchers from the University of Southern California and the WIC program in Southern California. All children were enrolled in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, And Children (WIC), a federal nutrition assistance programme that provides healthy food and breastfeeding support for low-income pregnant women and new mothers up to the age of 5.
Published in American Journal of Clinical NutritionAug. 23, records of infants born between Sept. 2012 – March 2016 were split into two groups: infants who stopped breastfeeding by the third month and started reduced lactose formula and infants who still received formula. Hispanic infants made up more than 80% in both of these groups.
Infants who received the reduced lactose formula with corn syrup solid formula were at an 8% increased risk of obesity by age 3 than children who received regular cow’s milk formula, and a 7% increased risk by age 4.
Tara Williams, a pediatrician and breastfeeding medicine specialist at the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated that the findings should cause parents, pediatricians and other healthcare professionals to pause and think about what infant formulas might contain.
She explained that infants who receive formula are at higher risk of becoming obese than those who breastfeed. However, research on the effects of different types formula is still new. She suggested that there could be several reasons why a reduced intake of corn syrup solid formula, lactose and obesity may be linked.
“The addition of the corn syrup really starts to potentially teach that child to like sweet things,” Williams said, which in turn can lead to less healthy eating habits in childhood and adulthood.
Williams speculates that it could be possible that parents who give their children formula lactose-reduced are less likely be to tolerate fussy babies and feed their babies more.
Research is showing that corn syrup could behave differently to other sugars. The microbiome in the gutliver to metabolize, which can lead to Weight loss.
Although parents have the right to choose what formula to feed their infants at home, states also play an important role in making these decisions. In 2018, approximately 45% of infants in the United States were eligible. WICThe program is administered by the states and funded by the federal government. WIC programs in states request bids from formula companies. Parents then select the products to be redeemed at retail stores.
“Now that we’re starting to see a signal that perhaps some formulas will have a potentially added risk of obesity for participants, states may say that when we’re helping mothers select among the formulas, we need to be very explicit about this additional risk,” says Christopher Anderson, PhD, associate research scientist at the Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC in California and lead author of the study.
Williams says more research to do similar analysis in other populations is needed to draw cause and effect conclusions, while Corkins says he’d like to see more research into the amount of formula eaten and connections to types of formula.
“We know as soon as you sign up for baby registry at Target, you’re getting formula samples in the mail; you’re very aggressively marketed to, it’s a $55 billion industry,” Williams said. “And their goal is to sell their product not to promote the health of infants.
“This research certainly will cause us to pause and consider what we are feeding our infants in the United States and how we allow companies to market their products.”
