Children's Nutrition Blog: Baby-led weaning, lower obesity risk?
In the news a couple of months ago was a report that babies
whose parents choose a 'baby-led weaning' feeding style may be
at a lower risk of obesity than those who are spoon fed. This
makes sense. It's early days yet for research backing baby-led
weaning (BLW) over any other style of introducing solids. If the
link exists, it's likely to work by allowing the baby to develop
a better sense of when he or she has eaten enough. This feeling
is called satiety. A more finely-tuned sense of satiety is also
one of the likely mechanisms for the protective effect of
breastfeeding against obesity. Just like with bottle-feeding
(expressed milk or infant formula), babies who are spoon fed are
often given fixed amounts and expected to finish it. I would
expect that any effect of baby-led weaning in reducing obesity
would be more pronounced with babies who are fed primarily
commercial infant foods. Why? These all come in a single package
size according to the