No parent needs to be told that child-rearing is a fine-line operation. Along with so many guidelines to help your baby toward a happy and healthy childhood, keep in mind two more dietary cautions:

• Do feed your baby whole milk! During the first two years of age, an infant's brain is rapidly growing and requires the fat content.
• Parents should also still understand the great importance of proper and adequate feeding: Don't underfeed your baby. While overfeeding is the more common tendency, and thus the growing concern for infant obesity, underfeeding is more harmful.

Professionals agree that children do not inherit obesity, they just inherit the tendency. How they and their parents learn to handle that tendency can help to determine a healthy life for the whole family.