Butterball Baby Award Promotes Breastfeeding

By Kaaren Valenta

Tipping the scales at 20.3 pounds, 6-month-old Lumi Kostmayer won the second annual Butterball Baby Contest held by pediatricians Laura Nowacki and Richard Auerbach at Newtown Center Pediatrics.

“It is politically correct to be a plump baby if you are breastfed,” Dr Nowacki explained. “It’s not a bad thing. Breastfed babies tend to be plumper, which lowers the risk for obesity later on. We aren’t sure why that is, but they seem to grow faster during the first six months and then level off.”

Lumi’s mother, Sirpa Kostmayer, agreed, noting that her first child also was very plump as a baby but quickly grew to be a slim toddler.

Pediatricians say that breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants. A mother’s milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protein that is necessary for baby’s growth and development. Most babies find it easier to digest breast milk than they do formula. As a result, breastfed babies grow exactly the way they should.

New growth charts from the World Health Organization (WHO) confirm that breastfed infants grow differently from formula-fed babies. Breastfed infants grow faster initially, then slow down as they approach their first birthday. People fed with formula as infants go on to have a higher risk of obesity as adults, the WHO said.

“If a child is overweight at age 2, that’s when doctors get concerned,” Dr Nowacki said. “We don’t want children growing up eating chips and soda.”

Dr Auerbach and Dr Nowacki learned that their practice has ten breastfed babies that are in the 95th percentile. And while the winners of the contest were girsl, the boys were close behind.

Six-month-old Shayna Millard was the first runnerup at 20 pounds, 1 ounce. She is the daughter of Bill and Nancy Millard of Newtown.

Nine-week-old Benjamin Wolff, the son of Deanna and Greg Wolff of Redding, tookthird place. He weighed almost 15 pounds.

Three month-old Alex Nunez was fourth at 16 pounds. He is the son of Miriam and Ynerso Nunez of Danbury.

The Kostmayer family received the top prize, a Butterball turkey for Thanksgiving. The runners-up received pumpkin pies.

Newtown Center Pediatrics, formerly Mt Pleasant Pediatrics, is located at 10 Queen Street, in a newly renovated building adjacent to the Big Y shopping center.