Prolonged Bottle Feeding Linked to Obesity

Prolonged Bottle Feeding Linked to Obesity - FoxNews.com

Babies who are still drinking from a bottle after the age of one are more likely to become obese, U.S. researchers said today.

A study of almost 7,000 children by scientists at Temple University in Philadelphia found that those who were still being put to bed with a bottle of milk at age two were 30 percent more likely to be obese at age five.

"A 24-month-old girl of average weight and height who is put to bed with an eight-ounce bottle of whole milk would receive approximately 12 per cent of her daily caloric needs from that bottle," said Rachel Gooze, from the university's Centre for Obesity Research and Education.