Prolonged bottle feeding linked to obesity

Researchers at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education say that children who were still drinking from bottles at age two were one-third more likely than other kids to be obese at the age of five. The connection does not prove cause-and-effect, said lead study author Rachel Gooze, a doctoral candidate in public health, but it's possible that for some kids, the bottle is providing unneeded calories. "The bottle may be providing a source of comfort, rather than meeting nutritional needs," she said.

Reuters | June 7, 2011