NPR reports that “Spooning strained peas into a baby is the traditional way to start solid food. But babies might be better off feeding themselves.
That’s the surprising result of a new study that compared the food preferences and weight of babies who fed themselves finger food with those who were spoon-fed.
Both groups of children had equal exposure to snack foods. But the babies who fed themselves preferred carbohydrates like toast, pasta or potatoes, while the spoon-fed children went for sweets when given a choice.
You’d think the children who controlled their own eating would be heavier, but not so. The spoon-fed crew was the one that was more likely to be obese as toddlers. Eight of the 63 spoon-fed children became obese, while none of the 63 self-feeding children were.”
Read more of the NPR article here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/08/146583049/skip-the-spoon-babies-may-eat-better-when-they-feed-themselves
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