Troubling Baby Fat

Clearly, we haven't learned much in the last few decades. A new study shows that babies as young as 9 months are overweight or obese. The story quotes a doctor saying that some parents are filling bottle with sweetened juices and even soda. This is outrageous, dare I say, a form of child abuse?

AOL Health reports:

"The nation's obesity epidemic may have roots as early as infancy. At least that's what a new study out of Wayne State University suggests, pointing out that more than 30 percent of U.S. babies are overweight or obese at 9 months of age.

This latest long-term study of some 7,500 infants across the U.S. showed that 32 percent of 9-month-olds were overweight or obese and 34 percent were overweight or obese by age 2.

The research was published in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion. The children in the study were all born in 2001 and underwent weight and height measurements at both 9 months and 2 years of age."Even more alarming is that these obese babies tend to be from lower-income families.

Dr. Lisa Davis, corporate medical officer for Medifast, told AOL Health she isn't surprised by the study findings and adds that possible reasons for the excess infant weight gain include introducing cereal too early and filling bottles with sweetened juice and even soda. "As pointed out in this study, rates of overweight infants were highest among low income families," she says. "Nearly three in 10 lower income households experience food insecurity, which has been linked with obesity."