he body phobia
of our culture negatively effects many areas of our lives, including not
only how we treat ourselves, but how we treat our children. Despite the
abundance of information about the benefits of breastfeeding, only 60%
of American women breastfeed their children, and the vast majority of
those mothers quit after just a few months. Women who choose to breastfeed
do so in a society that often expects them to hide the act of breastfeeding--as
if it were something dirty. Mothers who choose to nurse toddlers often
feel pressure to give up this practice--again as if there were something
sexually inappropriate about nursing a young child.
A study that was published in the British Medical Journal in July of
1999, has shown that babies who are fed breast milk exclusively are less
likely to be obese children. So reducing the risk of childhood obesity
can now be added to the long list of benefits to breastfeeding. Of course,
we at The Body Objective believe that any child's body is amazing and
beautiful at any size, and that any weight control program should be motivated
by the achievement of fitness, not the achievement of a socially acceptable
size. But this study is important because it helps to explain why some
children carry more fat than others, and gives parents information on
how to help their child grow into the healthiest body possible.
The study was conducted in Bavaria and tracked 9,357 children in the
public school system. The children's parents were given questionnaires
that asked about their nursing history, current eating and exercise habits,
socioeconomic class, and birth weight. Through these questionnaires, the
researchers were able to see that the obesity of the children was attributable
to their nursing history and not any of the other factors mentioned. In
fact, the researchers found that the overall rate of obesity among breast-fed
children was half that of bottle-fed children. The risk for obesity declined
with increased duration of breastfeeding, and those children who were
breastfed beyond a year had a 72 percent lower risk of obesity. Even those
children who had breastfed for just the first one or two months were 10%
less likely to be obese at age five or six.
Children were considered overweight if their body mass index--which takes
into account the person's height--was in the top 10% of children their
age and sex. The children were considered obese if they were in the top
three percent. Unfortunately, the researchers did not take into account
hereditary factors which probably are at least partially responsible for
some of the cases, but certainly their overall results point to a connection
between bottle-feeding and obesity.
But is this connection due to nutrients in the breastmilk, or is it due
to the behavioral consequences of breastfeeding? "Bottle-fed infants had
higher concentrations of insulin in their blood, which would be expected
to aid in fat deposition. Human milk contains fats and proteins significantly
different from those available in artificial infant milk. Human milk contains
the correct amount of protein a baby needs. The proteins in human milk
are also easier to metabolize than the large amount found in artificial
infant milk and therefore are not stored to later become fat, thereby
reducing the risk of obesity," states La Leche League on their informational
web site.
One must also consider that a bottle provides a steady, homogenized flow
of formula, while the mother's breast naturally regulates how much milk
and what type of milk the baby ingests. At the beginning of the feeding,
the baby receives a strong flow of watery foremilk. As the baby continues
to nurse, the milk flow slows down but becomes richer in fat. Breastmilk
contains over 400 nutrients, and scientists are far from fully understanding
how these nutrients interact with the body. We know that nursing stimulates
the areas of the brain that are related to hunger and satisfaction. Perhaps
it may someday be shown that bottle-fed babies are not receiving proper
stimulation of the appetite centers of the brain and as a result, are
overfeeding.
The higher incidences of obesity in bottle-fed children may also be connected
to the behaviors of the parents. After all, our relationship with food
begins in infancy. Unfortunately, western society has often pushed the
idea of "controlled feeding schedules:" feeding the baby at prescribed
intervals instead of trusting the baby's natural appetite. Many mothers
are counseled to let their babies "cry it out" at night, as if children
were born with some sort of natural agenda of manipulation. It is much
more likely that these babies are simply hungry and in need of human warmth.
Breastfeeding and the family bed encourages mothers to feed their babies
on demand, and encourages the baby to create a positive, trusting relationship
with food. Also, when a parent feeds a baby with a bottle, the parent
might focus more on emptying the bottle, than on the child's natural hunger
and satisfaction cues.
Western culture's fear of breasts also influences the way in which we
wean our children. Breasts have been so sexualized in our society that
many people feel that there is something sexually inappropriate about
nursing a toddler. Abrupt weaning can be very traumatic for both mother
and child, while gradual weaning allows both baby and mother to adjust.
La Leche League offers this definition of natural weaning: "Natural weaning
incorporates the natural limit-setting that babies need as they grow into
toddlers. A mother who is practicing natural weaning views weaning as
a developmental skill and lovingly guides her child as he learns the skills
that replace nursing. This guidance may involve asking the child to wait
to nurse or providing food or stimulating activity in place of nursing.
It involves respecting the mother's feelings and preferences about breastfeeding
while also taking into account the needs of the child."
Natural weaning allows the child to outgrow nursing at his or her own
developmental pace, and again, encourages the child to develop a positive,
trusting relationship with food.
Over the last few weeks, I have spent a great deal of time looking at
breastfeeding research. I find it odd that we have become so separated
from our natural instincts that scientists must now "prove" the value
of breastfeeding through various different studies. It is important to
note that parents who choose to bottle-feed their children are not doing
so out of neglectful parenting skills, and I am in no way suggesting that
bottle-fed children are any less loved than breastfed children. In this
article, I am simply trying to spread the word about the benefits of breastfeeding
so that parents can truly make an informed choice.
Because breasts have been shrouded in so much mystery and taboo, we as
a society have not made it easy to successfully breastfeed children. It
is time for our society to begin to normalize breasts and encourage all
aspects of breastfeeding. In this way, we can help our children create
physically healthy bodies and emotionally healthy relationships with food.
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Thank you Peri, for your contribution to our site.
Peri is a co-creator of a website that is dedicated to enabling
women to accept themselves as they are. Women (and men) are
beautiful creatures. They should not only be accepted as they are by
everyone else, but they should learn to accept themselves as they
are, too.
If you are interested in this concept, and are not offended by
others' nudity, check out
BodyObjective.com
Bodyobjective.com
is closed at the present time. We
hope that they work through whatever problems that are keeping
them
"down". They provide a much-needed service to people of all sizes
and
shapes.
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