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Hungry families admit to 'formula stretching'
Updated: Jan 19, 2012 1:18 PM CST <NOSCRIPT orgFontSize="11px"></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate--><!--END WNStoryHeader-->
THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) --
Some families that can't afford enough infant formula resort to risky "formula stretching," watering down infant formula or skipping feedings, researchers say.
This can have significant health consequences on an infant's developing brain, increasing the risk for learning, behavioral and psychological problems, according to two new studies from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
In one study, the researchers studied families treated at two pediatric clinics in Cincinnati that see about 45,000 patients from underserved neighborhoods each year. Despite receiving public assistance, about 30 percent of these families could not afford to meet their basic nutritional needs.
"We were surprised to find one in three families worried about putting food on the table," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Beck, a general pediatrician, in a hospital news release.
The inability to pay for enough food to satisfy basic nutritional needs is called food insecurity. "Food insecurity tends to be an invisible problem, forcing families to make difficult choices between nutrition and other essential needs," Beck said.
The researchers said better screening methods are needed to identify families without enough to eat, they said.
The study was recently published online in Clinical Pediatrics.
More...
http://www.kplctv.com/story/16553533/hungry-families-admit-to-formula-stretching-
Updated: Jan 19, 2012 1:18 PM CST <NOSCRIPT orgFontSize="11px"></NOSCRIPT><!--END wnDate--><!--END WNStoryHeader-->
THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) --
Some families that can't afford enough infant formula resort to risky "formula stretching," watering down infant formula or skipping feedings, researchers say.
This can have significant health consequences on an infant's developing brain, increasing the risk for learning, behavioral and psychological problems, according to two new studies from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
In one study, the researchers studied families treated at two pediatric clinics in Cincinnati that see about 45,000 patients from underserved neighborhoods each year. Despite receiving public assistance, about 30 percent of these families could not afford to meet their basic nutritional needs.
"We were surprised to find one in three families worried about putting food on the table," said study co-author Dr. Andrew Beck, a general pediatrician, in a hospital news release.
The inability to pay for enough food to satisfy basic nutritional needs is called food insecurity. "Food insecurity tends to be an invisible problem, forcing families to make difficult choices between nutrition and other essential needs," Beck said.
The researchers said better screening methods are needed to identify families without enough to eat, they said.
The study was recently published online in Clinical Pediatrics.
More...
http://www.kplctv.com/story/16553533/hungry-families-admit-to-formula-stretching-