The infant feeding and activity practices of many parents are putting children at risk for childhood obesity, a study suggests.

New research suggests parents may be largely to blame for increasing their child’s risk for obesity later in life due to infant feeding, TV and activity practices.

Over one third of children and adolescents were found to be overweight or obese in 2012.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine were led by Dr. Eliana M. Perrin in an obesity prevention trial named “Greenlight.” The trial took place at four medical centers across the U.S., including Vanderbilt University, the University of Miami, UNC and New York University.

The study analyzed 863 low-income parents and their babies, assessing both their feeding behaviors and activity practices. Most of the parents involved in the study (86 percent) were on Medicaid.

The study found that all parents analyzed used infant feeding and activity practices that are linked to some capacity to the onset of obesity later on in life.

When it came to feeding, about 45 percent of the parents involved in the study exclusively formula-fed their infants, while only 19 percent exclusively breastfed their infants. About 43 percent of the parents put their infants to bed with their bottles, and 23 percent allowed their babies to feed on their own with the bottles propped up, which can lead to over-feeding.

Around 38 percent of the parents encouraged their babies to finish their milk, and 20 percent soothed their crying babies with a bottle.

As far as activity practices, it was found that approximately 90 percent of the infants had been exposed to watching TV, with about 50 percent of babies being intentionally placed in front of the TV by their parents so they could watch it.

Past research has identified a link between watching TV and childhood obesity. In fact, kids with their own televisions in their rooms have a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese.

The findings were recently published in the journal Pediatrics.

Source: The state column