Does your baby need a diet?

While it is true that chubby babies often grow up to be chubby adults, that doesn't necessarily mean parents should be feeding infants skim milk. In fact, between one and two years of age, children need the fat and calories of whole milk to meet their growth needs, indicates John Grunow, associate professor of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

When physicians check the growth of a baby, they do it by measuring the child's weight in relation to height and age, then comparing it with a national standardized growth chart. "We are less concerned about whether the child is large or small for his or her age than that there is a symmetry to [the] growth. We would have more cause to be concerned if the child suddenly showed a major change in [his or her] established growth pattern."

Excess sugar in the diet can cause a problem in babies with gastrointestinal disorders. "We are seeing more and more infants who have these types of poorly defined intestinal problems, which could all be lumped together under the name of irritable bowel syndrome. Nonstop crying, caused by gas cramps, is usually the major symptom. Reducing the sugar in their formula has been one effective treatment. The symptoms usually abate after the infant reaches one year of age, and the intestines are more mature."

While the general impetus has been toward a fat-free and cholesterol-free society, healthy babies...