[Nutrition and somatic development of infants in the canton of Berne (with special emphasis on the question of obesity)].

160 babies of 3, 6 or 9 month were investigated in weight, length, subscapular and triceps skinfolds and a history of their nutrition since birth was taken. At the age of three month purely breast-fed babies are significantly lighter and show less weight gain since birth than purely bottle-fed ones. Girls fed on demand are significantly lighter and show thinner subscapular skinfolds than girls fed in fixed intervals. Boys show a similar tendency in weight, but the opposite tendency in skinfolds. The results suggest that feeding on demand supports the natural course of somatic growth of babies. The frequency of feeding on demand and the source of information about baby-foods vary greatly with social class.