Rise of the ‘sumo baby’ putting extra strain on the NHS, experts warn
The number of tots being classified as obese before their first birthday has shot up since 2011
A GENERATION of "fat babies" being weaned too early off breastfeeding is putting extra strain on the NHS, doctors have warned.
The number of tots being classified as obese before their first birthday has shot up to 1,400 since 2011, according to recent figures.
The average weight for a newborn boy is 7 lb 8 oz and for a girl 7 lb 4 oz. A baby is obese if it weighs 9 lb 15 oz or more.
Professor David Haslam, a GP specialising in obesity and chair of the National Obesity Forum, told Mail Online that the problem of “mothers who are fat having fat babies” had now reached “epidemic” levels.
Child obesity experts have called for the Government to provide more funding to work with parents and educate them about feeding their babies.
Tam Fray, a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum, said: "We are weaning children far too early because parents are not being taught properly.
"We are forcing food into children at an inappropriate early age.
"The only solution is education, from health professionals and GPs as the knowledge is not being inherited."
"Not everyone these days has extended families that help them when they are first time parents so the previous knowledge isn’t being passed on."
NHS guidelines recommend that mothers aim to breast feed their newborns for at least the first six months of their life.
Fray, whose organisation is made up of healthcare professionals specialising in obesity, said the “environment for mother’s needs to change”, so there was less pressure to go back to work sooner where it may be more difficult to breast feed.
He added: "It is woeful that even when a child hasn’t developed a digestive tract we are forcing it to eat solids and it therefore likes to eat and often become obese before reaching one year.
"This is largely because of the appalling system in place. Mothers do see health professionals but often at the beginning and end of the year due to under investment in this country."
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