They Say: Formula Not Necessarily Fattening. But!

Madeline Holler — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:22:00 GMT

Researchers studying the influences of body composition in early childhood found that, indeed, babies who were breastfed longer had a lower fat mass that could not be accounted for by genetic differences or height.

But the study isn't another "Breast is Best" pitch.

Just as influential, researchers found, was a child's weaning diet -- both those being weaned from the breast and those being weaned from formula.

Kids who had the better diet during weaning -- you know the drill, more fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean proteins -- also had greater lean mass by the time they were four years old.

At first blush, you kind of want to say, "duh. More veggies, less fat." However, (shout out to Hanna Rosin!) while the findings are evidence supporting some claims that breastfeeding reduces the risk of obesity in babies, they also show you can undo the breastfeeding bennies rather quickly by going from num-nums to three meals a day of chicken nuggets and Goldfish crackers.

And also, good nutrition is good nutrition, no matter what you ate in your first year of life.

This is the first study to look beyond ounce-for-ounce comparisons of milks and their influence on baby/toddler body fat. Instead of breast vs. bottle, it's fruit vs. Fruity Pebbles.

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Photo: ehow.com

Should an "Overweight" Beauty Pageant Contestant Be a Role Model for Young Girls?

Kelly Mills — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Monica Grenfell is horrified. Why? Well, see, this year's Miss England contest has a fairly unique finalist: Chloe Marshall, a size 16 (about a size 14 in U.S. sizes.) Seventeen-year-old Marshall has been quite outspoken about wanting to be "an ambassador for curves" and demonstrate to young girls that it isn't necessary to be a size zero. She says she eats healthy food and exercises regularly. Grenfell, however, is a dietician and she hopes Chloe doesn't win. "It would send an appalling--and very dangerous--message to other young women that it's OK to be fat." She adds that Chloe is a terrible role model and says charmingly, "Who on earth does she think she's kidding? What she's demonstrating isn't bravery but a shocking lack of self-control. Instead of flaunting her figure, Chloe ought to own up to the truth. She is fat and she got that way by over-eating." Nice.

Grenfell makes the point that we don't have an anorexia epidemic, we have an obesity epidemic, and that the last thing girls need to hear is that it's okay to be overweight because it puts you at risk for health problems like Type 2 diabetes and heart attacks. Mmm hmm. Well, we could debate that one all day, but there is certainly no consensus among researchers that obesity itself is the cause of the problems. In other words, the real issue is poor eating habits and a lack of physical activity, not the weight itself. And we certainly have a plethora of extremely thin role models for girls right now, role models whose bodies are not a realistic goal for many of the most active, healthy-eating girls in the world.

But beyond that, do girls really need the message that a diversity of shapes and sizes are lovely? You've probably already guessed what I think about that. Hell yes. And while we may not have an anorexia "epidemic" (curse that word) the extremely adverse health effects of eating disorders are well-documented. And by the way, most eating disorder stats only deal with the most obvious examples, while plenty of researchers are discovering that even young girls are using extreme measures to try and get thin, often unsuccessfully, with lord knows what long-term health consequences. I guess that's why I think Monica Grenfell should go f*ck herself for tearing into a brave teenage girl, and while I don't love beauty pageants, I'll be cheering for Chloe.

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They Say: Formula Not Necessarily Fattening. But!

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Should an "Overweight" Beauty Pageant Contestant Be a Role Model for Young Girls?