Breast-fed babies leaner, say NZ advocates

Breast is best for combating child obesity, say New Zealand breast-feeding advocates, citing new World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

The director of La Leche League, Barbara Sturmfels, says WHO's new child growth standards show healthy breastfed babies and children are leaner than the standards used in New Zealand for the last 30 years.

``The disparity between the old and new standards means that some healthy breastfed babies have been erroneously diagnosed as `underweight' and their mothers advised to supplement their feeds or even wean, advice which, if taken, was detrimental to their babies' health and development,'' she said.

``Conversely, obesity and overweight in young children will have been under-diagnosed, contributing to the current obesity `epidemic' which is the subject of a Parliamentary inquiry.''

The launch yesterday by WHO of new child growth standards (www.who.int/childhealth) is the culmination of nine years' work (involving 8440 children from six countries) to determine how children should grow from birth to age five.

Unlike growth charts currently used in New Zealand and around the world, which were largely based on artificially fed babies, the new international growth standards are based on the breast-fed child as the physiological norm.

The launch coincides with the deadline for submissions to Parliament's health select committee inquiry into obesity and type 2 diabetes.

WHO said the obesity epidemic in many countries would have been picked up earlier had the standards been available 20 years ago.

Health Minister Pete Hodgson, in an address to a food industry seminar last week, said 21 percent of New Zealand children aged five-14 were overweight, and a further 10 percent obese.

``The obesity epidemic is already causing enormous social and economic cost to our society and we know the epidemic has not yet peaked,'' he said.

``We must prevent any further increase in obesity -- especially in children.''

Ms Sturmfels said breast-feeding advocates would be looking to the Ministry of Health and providers of child health services to adopt the new standards to promote optimal infant nutrition.

It is believed that protective components in breast milk influence the development of insulin receptors in the brain, and breast-fed babies are better at ``self-regulating''.

NZPA