A new international study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition claims that breast milk has less protein than formula.

Bottle-fed babies have been believed to be larger and store more fat, making them more susceptible to childhood obesity, and the new study is calling for protein levels in baby formula to drop.

To reach the conclusion, a third were given a low protein content formula milk, a third had a formula with a higher level of protein, while the rest were breast-fed during their first year.

In order to qualify as breast-fed, kids had to be either exclusively given breast milk, or have a maximum of three bottles per week.

Then the infants were followed up to the age of two with regular weight, height and body mass index measurements taken.

At the age of two, there was no difference in height between the groups, but the high protein group were the heaviest.

The researchers suggest lower protein intakes in infancy might protect against later obesity.

The study, which highlights the importance of breast-feeding as well as further research in infant formula composition, will continue to see if the children given lower protein formulas have lesser risks of obesity later in life. —Newspost Online

Labels: breastfeeding, childhood obesity, infants, obesity