The critical period of infant feeding for the development of early disparities in obesity

► Early feeding environments may contribute to the development of disparities in pediatric overweight. ► Over 75% of low-income, first time African-American mothers gave solids or juices to their infants by 3 months of age. ► Depression, single motherhood or the belief that the infant is “greedy” are risk factors for inappropriate infant feeding. ► Inappropriately fed infants receive an additional 100 calories daily and are more likely to have high weight-for-length.