Hi everyone,

I recently saw this statement on an "ask the dietician" website:

"if growth charts were based on breast fed infants, bottle fed infants would be misdiagnosed as overweight."

I thought, "Um, hello?" Pretty interesting that this person actually Weissingerizes the premise, but still can't accept the obvious conclusion.

I've been assuming that if we all used the WHO charts, formula feeding parents would be encouraged to try to get their babies to grow like breastfed ones, rather than the common scenario we face now where parents of breastfed children are told their children aren't "gaining enough" or growing "fast enough" based on formula or mixed-feeding norms.

However, for some reason, I started wondering: considering how the nutrients in formula are so much less bioavailable than those in breastmilk, is it possible that some formula-fed babies actually HAVE to be overweight--that is, in order to absorb enough nutrients, do they have to consume more calories than they really need for growth? (And thus begins the "overfed, undernourished" problem we have in the US today.)

I may be totally off base here, but hypothetically speaking, I'm curious if it's possible. Any thoughts?

Jennifer in NY

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome