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Home › Articles › Toddler Nutrition › Chubby Cheeks

Chubby Cheeks

Baby Fat or a Health Hazard?

By Belinda Mooney

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"Parents introduce solid foods too soon to babies and overdo the 'good' foods like milk and juice in older children," says Dana Bates, a registered dietitian for WIC (Women, Infants & Children) in Oklahoma City, Okla. "Wait until babies are 4 months or even older before introducing solid foods. Then start out the right way."

Fruit juice is often a hidden culprit. Parents often think since it's 100 percent juice it's OK to drink. It is good for you but in moderation. Juices still contain sugar and a child can drink way too much of even a good thing.

AAP Recommendations

In May 2001, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement that advised parents to limit the amount of juice that their children drink. The AAP says that infants shouldn't be given juice at all until they're 6 months old; children aged 1 to 6 should drink no more than 4 to 6 ounces of juice daily; and older children should drink no more than 8 to 12 ounces of juice per day.

"I thought I was doing a good thing by giving my 3-year-old fruit juice anytime he asked for it, " says Teri Waller, a mother of two from South Bend, Ind. "I was shocked when I found out that I was actually giving him way too much sugar. I had no idea."

Couch Potatoes

Oddly enough, diet and nutrition, while important factors, did not seem to be the major problem that affects weight in young children. "Lack of physical activity is the biggest risk factor for the development of obesity in children, next to an obese parent," states Dr. Leonard H. Epstein, behavioral medicine specialist, in a University of Buffalo press release on childhood obesity.


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