As I mentioned in my other post, Sasha’s face is now a lot rounder than it used to be. She’s got a full-on double-chin, and even, almost, jowls. She is, it seems to me now, bursting with brown fat.
Brown fat? Yes, brown fat. According to the Wall Street Journal, this is some awesome fat, since it doesn’t store so much energy (as white fat cells do) as keep Sasha warm by actually burning calories. Or something:
Brown fat is able to burn calories because of the cells’ abundance of mitochondria, the engines of the cellular world. White fat cells, by contrast, are like fat-filled balloons that store energy and help insulate the body.
The Journal‘s point here is that scientists are using this knowledge to develop drugs that will help us adiposally blessed adults convert our white fat to brown fat and thus get skinnier. (Or something.)
But for me, it’s a useful tool in a long-running argument with my wife about what to feed Sasha: whole milk or 2 percent? It’s been going on since just after Sasha switched out of breast milk, and it shows no signs of stopping, especially now that Sasha’s face is rounding out. (Even though she’s only 50th percentile in terms of weight, far below her rank for height.) And, of course, it extends to all dairy products, especially yogurt, which is actually occasionally difficult to find in whole-milk varieties. Plus, also, Sasha appears to prefer the strained Greek-style yogurt, which is richer and probably fattier (and which I make from regular yogurt at home rather than buying the expensive shit).
All of which is to say, when it comes to babies, where’s the line between cute-fat and just plain fat? I, the food and travel writer, prefer the former. Jean, the fashion designer, is leaning toward the latter. Are we being too New Yorky in concerning ourselves with Sasha’s size? Shouldn’t we just be happy that Sasha eats almost everything we feed her, instead of turning her nose up at strange dishes?
Fat in dairy should never be the problem. Your kid is not going to get fat off of it, and it’s ridiculously important for brain development.
Most of the dietary problems for babies come from juice, soda, and breaded/fast food. Doctors didn’t even use to think about the concept of babies being fat because all babies seem to do the fat/thin/fat/thin thing as they develop and grow.
I find that my kids bodies have always dictated to them and I about what fat they needed in their milk products. I have a child who, from 2 till 5, would ONLY drink skimmed milk, by taste preference. I have another, skinny as a pin like her dad, who likes cream (whipping, not coffee) on her cereal. The first, when she turned 5 and started school, went back to a full-fat milk, and her body did not change.
Recently, organic “standard” milk has come available here. That’s milk where the fats haven’t been skimmed, then added back by percentage and shot at super-high speeds through a screen to mix ’em up so that they never again separate.
I had heard from a local cheesemaker that this milk is far more desirable because the human body doesn’t use the fats the same way as they are less processed and therefore not broken down. Even I, a lifelong consumer of skimmed milk, consume this stuff instead, and I haven’t gained an ounce.
I say teach your children to eat what their body tells them they want, and feed them decent whole foods, and their body will fall within the healthy norms that so many western bodies seem to have abandoned.
As for a fat baby/toddler, we always were grateful when one of ours came down with some horrible flu that made them spew every calorie before it had the chance to be digested, or fever that kept them from eating for what seemed like forever. Baby fat is there for a reason. Roll in it, baby!
First commenter has it right, until at least the age of 2 the saturated fat in whole milk is extremely important for brain development. It might not be great for adults, but your little girl needs it to build her little brain properly.
Saturated is not the kind of fat that helps brain development.