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Clinicians are looking for ways to prevent obesity as early as possible in childhood, when interventions may be most effective. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that breast-feeding can help prevent obesity, based largely on longitudinal cohort studies. One notable risk factor for childhood obesity is high weight during infancy.
Dutch researchers prospectively followed a large population-based birth cohort to determine the association between type of feeding and weight. Of 3367 children, 12% were overweight at age 6 months and 11% were overweight at age 5 to 6 years. The odds of being overweight at age 5 to 6 years were 4.1 times greater for overweight infants than normal-weight infants, after adjusting for a wide range of maternal, …