Obesity epidemic spreads

This news story pisses me off in so many ways. Should we really be worrying about obesity in infants under 6 months old?!?

The dangers begin before birth if an expectant mother develops gestational diabetes, a temporary condition.

Gillman said that animal studies have shown that this results in the fetus absorbing too much blood sugar from the mother. The fetus produces more insulin to counteract the sugar, which can lead to the formation of more fat cells. The baby is born heavier than is healthy.

Okay, so I had gestational diabetes with DS2. And yes, he was quite the chubby baby -- 9lbs 11oz at birth. However, the health risks were greater for me trying to birth that 9lbs 11oz, rather than to DS2 for obesity. He's now extremely skinny, to the point where I regularly get asked if I feed him enough.

The study found that 5.9 percent of infants under 6 months were overweight in 2000-2001, compared with 3.4 percent in 1980-1981. As babies pass through infancy, they can develop weight problems if they're fed formula instead of breast milk, and if their first solid foods include such unhealthy, habit-forming fare as french fries.

Well, okay, I can agree that breast milk is superior to formula and you shouldn't be feeding french fries to your 6 month old infant.

But, I have anecdotal evidence and assertions from the pediatrician saying that breastmilk contains more fat in early infancy, and becomes less rich over time. So much so that breastfed infants tend to be fatter than formula fed infants early on, but that trend reverses after about 6 months.

There are enough alarmist health guidelines for pregnant women and for feeding your kids, it's enough to drive a mother insane. Infant obesity is about the last thing I want to worry about.

ETA: see also this article.