Researchers have concluded that high-fat diets for infants might have an adverse efteq on their later lives
WITH babies vying with each other in
bornny baby contests the world over,
baby fat has never been a serious issue
with mothers and paediatricians. A
chubby baby is considered a healthy
baby by all. Some Finnish researchers,
however, decided to have a fresh look at
the dietary requirements of babies, particularly the fat content in their diet and
its implications. The study concludes
that, contrary to conventional belief, it
may not be all that good to feed babies
with fat-rich food (Archives of Paediatrics
&Adolescent Medicine, Vol 15 1, No 2).
While there are guidelines issued by
various bodies like the American Heart
Association (AHA) about the composition of diets for adults and children
(including babies), hardly any such specific recommendations exist in the
developing countries. This is especially
true of urban populations in developing
countries like China, where obesity in
children is fast emerging as a serious
problem. In India, medical bodies like
the Indian Council of Medical Research
have made recommendations pertaining to the dietary needs of children.
However, a significant number of people are either not aware or just not
concerned.
The AHA recommends that
children over two,years should
restrict their daily fat intake to
roughly 30 per cent of the calories
consumed, as it would otherwise
become a risk factor for heart disease in later years. But the AHA also
says that reducing the level of fat
in the diet to less than 30 per cent
could be dangerous. The presence
of fatty acids in the diet have an
important role to play in the
development of the brain, which
grows at a rapid rate during the
first two years. The brain of a two-
year-old reaches 80 per cent of the
volume it will attain by adulthood,
half of which comprises fat. Large
amounts of fat are thus needed for
the overall physical and mental
development of growing children.
A team of researchers led by Hanna
Lagstrom of the University of Turku in
Finland followed two groups of children
between the age of eight months and four
years. The first group had 540 children
whose parents agreed to regulate the level
of fat and cholesterol in the children's
diet, while 522 in the second group were
given a normal diet with 30 per cent fat.
The objective was to study the impact of a slight reduction of saturated fat, a variety that is linked to heart disease.
The scientists replaced saturated fat
with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (like vegetable oil or margarine) to provide the babies with adequate levels of fat for brain development
and overall growth. They studied the
effects of a diet low in saturated fat and
cholesterol on infants as young as 13
months. The researchers took a bold
step: they advised parents to feed
skimmed milk or tinned formula food
as soon as the babies were weaned.
This was a radical departure from the
recommendation of paediatricians that
babies under two years be given whole-
some milk.
According to their analysis, the
amount of fat normally consumed by
babies after weaning in Western society
is far less than the amount presumed by
nutritionists for analysis, suggesting that
babies might not need as much as 30 per
cent fat in their diets.
Significantly, the two-year-olds
examined in the trial did not show any
ill effects despite being on a diet with
only about 11 per cent of their calories
from saturated fat, as compared to 14
per cent in the control group. They evaluated the children's neurological and
psychological development extensively
at the age of five years. Preliminary
analysis has shown no significant difference between babies given less fat and
those who had the full quota of fat in
their diet. The study suggests that the
present guidelines on the diet of babies
are outmoded.
This is considered the first long-
term prospective study to examine the
safety of a restricted diet in infants
under two years and has placed nutritionists and paediatricians in a dilemma. Their response to the study has been cautious.
Some nutritionists, however, admit
that the study is promising and can play
an important role in providing healthy
diet recommendations to younger children. Edward Fisher, director of cardiovascular research at Mount Sinai School
of Medicine, New York, was part of the
group that made these recommendations earlier. Fisher says that it has long
been assumed that breast-fed and hottle-fed babies take in much more than
30 per cent fat in their diet even after
they start consuming other foods, as
both breast and formula milk contain
high quantities of fat. But the Finnish
study points out that the average eight-
month-old baby gets only about 29 per
cent of its calories from fat.
Several researchers in the US are,
however, seeking more clinical data on
the effects of reduced fat intake.
According to them, a blanket recommendation can pose new problems. In
the absence of expert advice to parents,
young children may actually get far
lower quantities of fat than the essential
requirement. There are instances of
children reporting signs of malnutrition
when kept off fat-rich diets by over-cautious parents. In addition, most kids are quite fussy in eating. Wholesome milk,
they argue, is the surest way of ensuring
the intake of the required fat content.
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