Study details
With upwards of one-quarter of U.S. children aged 2-5 years being overweight or obese, interventions to prevent rapid weight gain and reduce risk for overweight status in infancy are needed, noted Dr. Paul. Another reason to consider very early intervention, he added, is that infancy is a time of both “metabolic and behavioral plasticity.” However, most efforts to intervene early have, thus far, had limited success.
“Our responses to a baby crying are to feed that baby,” said Dr. Paul. This urge, along with others (such as “clear your plate”), evolved during times of food scarcity but persist now that we have inexpensive and palatable food, and promote rapid infant weight gain and increased obesity risk.
An alternative to those traditional parenting practices are responsive feeding and responsive parenting, he explained. “Responsive feeding and parenting requires prompt, developmentally appropriate responses to a child’s behaviors including hunger and satiety cues.”
In other studies, RP has been shown to foster cognitive, social, and emotional development. “The question we had was: Can responsive parenting reduce obesity risk?” he said.