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Begin at the Beginning: The Best Diet for Healthy Children
Part 2: Diet during pregnancy and breast feeding
During pregnancy you really are eating for two. It used to be thought that if
an expectant mother were malnourished, her baby's needs would take precedence
at the expense of its mother's body and, that in this way, her foetus would be
protected from any deficiency. We now know that this is not true: a poor diet
during pregnancy is a major cause of low birth-weight babies, who have a much
increased risk of perinatal death, of other health problems throughout life and
a reduced life-expectancy overall.
The ideal diet during pregnancy is the one advocated
here for weight loss: one that has a high nutrient density with foods such as
meat, fish, milk, and dairy products, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Too much
carbohydrate and your baby will be fat. Dietary carbohydrates raise insulin
levels. Babies born to mothers who had high insulin levels while they were
pregnant were markedly obese by the age of six, independent of their mother's
weight. It is not thought that insulin itself crosses the placenta from mother
to unborn child. However, insulin produces antibodies that do. Once in the
foetus these increase glycogen and fat deposits resulting in an abnormally
large baby.
Mother's size during pregnancy doesn't seem to matter.
What matters is what a mother has eaten during pregnancy. Significantly, there
is no difference between energy intakes of babies born to fat or thin mothers.
This indicates that development of fatness comes before any increase in energy
intake.
Foods to cut down on are those that are low in
nutrients and high in starches
and sugars: sugar, sweets, bread, pasta, cakes and biscuits, and alcohol.
During pregnancy there is an inevitable weight gain.
This should be about 2-1
kg (1-2 lbs) in the first ten weeks, 3-5 kg (6-10 lbs) by week 20 with about
½ kg (1 lb) a week after that to the end of pregnancy: a total weight
gain of about 13 kg (28 lbs) over the nine months.
If weight gain is substantially greater or less than
this you should try to
determine why. Excessive weight gain is usually caused by excessive intake of
'convenience food'.
The milky way
The Jesuits say that if they have a child for his first seven years, they have
him for life. Similarly the way children are fed during these first formative
years determines their eating patterns throughout life and it is this that will
have a long-lasting effect on their later well-being and weight. Dietary habits
learned during childhood are usually retained throughout life. Set them early,
as trying to change them later is not easy.
It is noticeable that obesity seems to run in families:
"there's nothing I can
do, my mother was fat, it's in my genes" is an excuse I often hear. But it is
seldom true. One major reason is given above: a mother's high carbohydrate diet
while pregnant. Another reason that obesity runs in families is because
children are brought up the same way their parents (usually mother) ate or were
brought up. So if mother has a bad diet, daughter will usually have a similar
bad diet. It is in this way that health and obesity traits are perpetuated.
The way to good nutrition for your infant should not be
difficult. There is one
product that alone will provide your baby with all the nutrients she requires
for at least the first six months or more of her life. That product, consisting
of all the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and trace elements
your growing infant needs, formulated in exactly the right proportions,
available when required at exactly the right temperature and germ free, is
mother's milk. Not only is it the right food for growth, it will protect your
baby from allergies, and gastric and bowel disturbances. Given free access to
the breast, your baby will not overeat, taking only as much as she needs. One
bonus for you as a nursing mother is that you will be less stressed by a
colicky child. Both you and your baby are emotionally bonded and gain pleasure
from the experience. And, unlike most things today, this amazing product is
free.
Another bonus, in terms of weight, is that you will
regain your figure more easily and quickly.
Big hips are there for a reason
Many women are dismayed that they have large hips and thighs. But there is a
very sound reason for this fat. Nature put it there for energy storage for
lactation and to safeguard the food supply of offspring.
It is generally assumed that it's the pregnancy phase
that's energy consuming but, in fact, the nursing phase uses much more. An
infant consumes large amounts of energy in the first six or nine months of
life, so nature guarantees this supply of energy in women's hips and thighs and
has locked it up during the non-lactating phase. Fat is easily stored around
the hips but it's not easy to get out again unless the woman breast-feeds her
baby. At that point, the hip fat will come off easily. There is no doubt that a
mother's best 'hip and thigh diet' is the one she feeds to her baby.
The good news, then, is that if the mother
breast-feeds, this condition doesn't last long and her thighs will return to a
nicer, slimmer shape. And the bad news is that, if she doesn't breast-feed, a
mother stands a good chance of keeping what are unkindly called 'jodhpur
thighs' probably for life.
Dr Carol Janney and colleagues at the University of
Michigan confirm this.
Studying women, their breast feeding habits and weight, they found that women
who breast-fed their babies exclusively for at least six months regained their
original weight much more easily and quickly than those who bottle fed or only
partly breast-fed their babies. There were significantly slower rates of
weight loss after breast feeding ceased in women who exclusively
breast-fed for only a short period. Strangely, older women or unmarried women
did not lose their weight as easily as younger, married women.
While the bad news is that it is very difficult to
eliminate hip and thigh fat
(unless nursing), the good news is that this kind of fat, which is there for a
good biological reason, is not hazardous to health. It is only abdominal fat
that is dangerous.
Breast-feeding for your baby's health
Another study conducted by researchers at the Department of Child Health, at
the Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, looked at the extent to
which health in later life was determined by early feeding patterns. This
demonstrated that exclusive breast-feeding was beneficial to the child's health
too. They showed that respiratory illness, weight, height, blood pressure and
amount of body fat were all related to how baby had been fed during the first
few months of life. Babies who had been exclusively breast-fed for at least the
first four months of life had only half the amount of wheezing of those who
were wholly bottle-fed. Children who had been partly breast and partly
bottle-fed were little better than those wholly bottle-fed. Blood pressure was
also significantly higher in children who had been bottle-fed. The time of the
introduction of solid food was the factor that had the most profound influence
on both respiratory illness and body weight. If infants were introduced to
solid food before fifteen weeks, they were more than twice as likely to have a
wheezy chest and they were much fatter.
Another study from Finland confirmed the health-giving
benefits of longer-term breast-feeding. Drs. U M Saarinen, and M Kajosaari
divided infants into three feeding regime groups: breast-feeding for more than
six months; for between one and six months; and less than one month. Children
in the last group suffered far more allergies than those in the first. Saarinen
and Kajosaari conclude that breast-feeding is protective against eczema, food
allergy and respiratory allergies throughout childhood and adolescence.
A study published in 1990 showed that babies who were
prematurely weaned to a high-carbohydrate diet were more likely to develop high
blood cholesterol levels, but if babies were weaned to a high-fat diet, that
prevented high blood cholesterol. And, getting back to obesity, breast-fed
infants are always slimmer than formula-fed infants at one year. Ninety-five
percent of obese people had not been breast-fed. Breast milk contains human
Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), a potent inhibitor of obesity. EGF is not found
in formula milks or in cow's milk.
Lastly, dietary fat and cholesterol are needed to
insulate nerve cells and prevent short circuits between nerves and subsequent
brain damage. There is concern that infant formula milks do not provide the
necessary long-chain fatty acids necessary for proper brain development. For
proper growth and brain development children under the age of two need fat and
cholesterol every day - even if they are chubby. Never forget that Nature has
designed breast milk to be the perfect food for babies - and fifty percent of
the energy in breast milk is in the form of fat.
To sum up: exclusive breast-feeding for at least four
months is better for both
a mother's weight and the future health and weight of her children.
It is a sad reflection on our time, therefore, that
many mothers are deterred
from breast-feeding their infants by ill informed and, sometimes, aggressive
prudery. I remember, in my youth, it was not at all unusual to see a woman
breast-feeding her baby whilst walking in the street or doing the shopping. It
can be done quite discreetly. It is ironic, therefore, that now, when 'topless'
sunbathing is the norm on beaches throughout the world, and complete nudity can
be seen on the beach in full view of the public promenade at Brighton or on
television, the wholly natural act of breast-feeding is somehow regarded as
'not nice'.
I can only hope that the World Health Organisation's
declaration in 1991 will
have some effect on this ludicrous prudery. The declaration says that as a
global goal for optimal maternal and child health and nutrition, all women
should be enabled to practise exclusive breast-feeding and all infants should
be fed exclusively on breast milk from birth until four to six months old.
Thereafter, children should continue to be breast-fed while receiving
appropriate and adequate complementary foods for up to two years of age and
beyond.
Breast-feed immediately
Success with breast-feeding depends on how soon and how much a baby sucks. The
breast produces milk only on demand: if your baby doesn't suck, you won't
produce any milk.
Your baby should be put to your breast immediately
after birth. Under one hour
old, a baby is responsive and alert, and will suck easily. When a baby is born,
her blood-sugar level is usually low. In nature, the first food a baby gets
from the breast is colostrum. It may look a thin watery fluid but it has a high
protein content. It is also this colostrum that gives the newborn child
immunity from diseases and allergies. This amazing food, for which there is no
substitute, is the start that all babies should have.
Bottle-feeding is inferior to breast-feeding both in
the quality of the milk
and for the mother-baby bonding process. Cow's milk is not suitable for a baby
human. It is designed for a calf that must double its weight in a few days.
Formula milks are nearer to human milk but looking round the pharmacy at baby
milk formulas I note that, without exception, they are now all made with
polyunsaturated vegetable oils. If baby is to grow healthily and live a healthy
life, baby needs natural breast milk now more than ever before.
Disincentives to breast-feeding
Today, society conspires against breast-feeding. Many women who want to
breast-feed are deterred by a combination of forces. It is common practice in
some maternity hospitals for the newborn baby to be given a glucose drink to
raise her blood-sugar level. This not only taxes her immature pancreas
unnecessarily; it makes her less likely to suck as vigorously to start the milk
flow. More than this, it is the start of the road to obesity, for the child
will more rapidly develop a taste for sweet things. You should demand of the
paediatrician or nurse that they ensure that no glucose or other sweet drinks
are given under any circumstances.
Baby should be fed on demand. If breast-fed, your baby
will take only as much
as she needs and she will not become overweight.
Beware: baby-food manufacturers seem to have
arrangements either with the
hospital or the Registrar of Births, whereby they are told of all new babies.
As a result, soon after your baby is born, you will receive, through the post,
a deluge of promotional literature from them extolling the virtues of their
products. If you read it, bear in mind the pecuniary interest of those who sent
it to you or, better still, throw it away. Your baby will almost certainly be
better off without it. These manufacturers do not want you to use your own
milk. If you do, you won't buy theirs. So they work very hard to undermine
breast-feeding - in a very subtle way, of course. Other elements of society add
to the conspiracy: the general feeling that to breast-feed in public is 'not
done', or the husbands who 'don't like it'!
With ninety-nine percent of women having the ability
to breast-feed, there are
very few indeed who cannot. If you are one of the unfortunate ones who
genuinely cannot breast-feed, it is essential that you make sure that your
baby's formula has exactly the same composition of nutrients as human breast
milk.
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