Overfeeding your baby can lead to health problems in later life

A new study has established that there is a connection between what a new baby is given to eat and how they will turn out in later life.

The study focused on fetal and postnatal nutrition, particularly the first six weeks of a baby's life. A book was then published on the study and its findings, Fetal and Early Postnatal Programming and its Influence on Adult Health. The book details the impact that overfeeding can to do a person. The research suggests that a child who is 'overfed' is more likely to become obese in later life. The overfeeding in their earliest stage of life can change their metabolism. The researchers at the University of Buffalo, where the study took place, used animals to establish the results. Co-author of the book and study, Mulchand Patel has said:

“Our animal studies have shown that overfeeding, or the increased intake of carbohydrate-derived calories during the immediate postnatal period, can reprogram an individual’s metabolism, creating negative health outcomes later in life. Our findings presented in this chapter also show that biochemical processes responsible for this metabolic malprogramming during the suckling period in the rat cannot be reversed by moderate calorie restriction in the postweaning period.”

They compared the over-eating in animals to when parents give their babies milk formula without restriction or when high carbohydrate solid foods are introduced to a baby's diet too early.