Health fears as babies are fed too much

Children's future health is being put in danger because mothers are following official feeding guidelines - which are wrong.

Growth charts showing how much babies should weigh at each age milestone have overestimated how heavy healthy children should be. It means mothers have been overfeeding children to ensure they hit the weight targets.

Research by the World Health Organisation has now found that targets for two- and three-year-olds are 15 to 20 per cent too high.

The figures suggested a healthy one-year-old weighs between 22.5 and 28.5lb, when the true healthy weight is 21 to 26lb. Babies who are too fat store up health problemsfor the future including a higher risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

A recent study found babies only need a tiny amount of extra food each day to become grossly overweight by the age of two.

Now, after a six-year study into how more than 8,000 children grew, the WHO will release new growth charts for breast-fed babies.

The study co-ordinator, WHO nutrition expert Dr Mercedes de Onis, said: "By these charts, breast-fed babies seem to be growing poorly from as early as two to three months. This may make paediatricians recommend the mother introduce complementary foods or wean the baby."

Dr de Onis said the charts did not reflect the growth of breastfed babies, who are leaner but get all the health benefits associated with breast milk, including lower

rates of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The Government recommends babies be breastfed for the first six months.

Dr de Onis, who is presenting the research to a conference in London today, said: "We are storing up health problems for the future."