BabyWe spoke to Dr. Jog about obesity and the risk factor involved in babies and toddlers. “Chubby does not mean that the baby is necessarily healthy», said Dr. Jog, “Infact babies with big heads might look amazingly adorable but the fact remains that they could be suffering from a deficiency of Vitamin D”. He also said that the signs which a pediatrician looks for in babies are wide wrists, large heads and the texture and color of the skin.
After breast feeding for six months, Mrs. Purna Dixit realized that her baby had really become healthy and the complexion of her child had also improved remarkably. The baby had become almost two shades lighter. Her mother–in–law would be so happy to see a such a fair child, she thought to herself. But was the baby really healthy? Mrs. Dixit could not be more wrong. The truth is that only giving your child milk for a long period and that too in it’s growth years is very wrong. This too is a myth that milk is a complete diet, and in thinking so one can actually make our children anemic. That is what had happened to Mrs. Dixit’s child, the color of the skin was only becoming fairer according to her. The child in actuality was turning pale due to lack of proper nutrition. Dr. Jog also states that, “They feel that their children have become fair but it is only anemia, top milk too lacks in Vitamin D and iron. Thus neither breast nor top milk can suffice the nutritional requirements completely”.
“The baby should be 50 cms at birth and from then on grow regularly. There is a growth chart by which we can examine and further determine if the baby is healthy and normal. If the baby is gaining weight and is not gaining enough height, only then you have a problem”, says Dr. Jog. If the baby is fed a balanced diet then there would be no such complications. He also says that the first 2 years are very important in nutritional terms. If the height remains stunted then the process is irreversible. Dr. Jog further states, “Keeping all this factors in mind one should always remember that the baby’s fullest potential should be reached at this time”.
Dr. Zuberi, a well known and reputed Pediatrician in Pune says, “The statement that obese babies can eventually suffer from health problems is true, however the ratio of this happening is almost negligible”. he says that according to him there is no need for alarm because only if there is a 30 % predisposition on the standard deviation on the growth chart can a baby be called obese or in some case anorexic. Either which way there are obese babies but very few. “There are some very serious problems involved in babies who are overweight”, says Dr. Zuberi. Few of them are an underlying endocrine problem which could involve a condition of tumors. Also there is a risk of effecting the central nervous system. These are however extreme cases and not all over weight babies face such risks.
Thus the end result would be that eventually as a parent it would be up to you to follow and believe what you would want to. It seems that it is a unanimous decision of all doctors however that nutrition in the formative years should be the focus. it can be the sole determinant in shaping your baby’s health in the future years. Therefore follow what you think right, but do not follow age old myths blindly. Try and study them a little, your baby’s life could depend on it.
