New babies who are regularly looked after by people who are not their parents weigh more by nine months of age than babies who are just cared for by their mother or father, according to a study published today.

The links between child care, a baby’s weight and feeding practices that may affect the risk of becoming overweight, including breastfeeding and introducing solid foods at an earlier age, were examined.

Juhee Kim, of the University of Illinois, and Karen Peterson, of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, who wrote the study appearing in the Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, conclude “child care influences both infant feeding practices and risk of overweight at least during infancy“.

Visits were made to the homes of 8,150 nine-month-olds who were weighed and measured in 2001 and 2002. Their main carer gave information regarding child care.

A total of 55.3pc of the infants received regular child care from someone other than a parent.

Among those, half were in full-time child care, 40.3pc began child care at younger than three months, 39.3pc began between three and just under six months old (at 5.9 months) and 20.7pc began at six months or older.

The researchers write: “Infants who initiated child care at younger than three months were less likely to have been breastfed and were more likely to have received early introduction of solid foods than those in parental care.”

They note that infants in part-time child care gained 175g (0.4lb) more weight during nine months than infants cared for by parents.

Those who were cared for by other relatives gained 162g ( 0.35lb) more weight, had a higher rate of early introduction to solid foods, which was shown to be a risk factor for weight gain, and were less likely to begin breastfeeding.

Source: Irish Independent, Ireland
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/parenting/infants-in-child-care-put-on-more-weight-1429725.html