Australian researchers from Sydney Medical School and the University of Sydney studied more than 600 first-time mothers and their children.
The mothers received eight home visits from community nurses before and after their child was born. Visits were designed to coincide with early childhood development milestones at one, three, five, nine months during their first year and at 12, 18 and 24 months.
During the visits they looked at the children’s BMI, feeding habits and how much television they watched. Nurses taught mothers healthy eating and exercise habits for their children and used the following key intervention messages: breast is best, "no solids for me until six months", "I eat a variety of fruit and vegetables everyday", "only water in my cup" and "I am part of an active family".
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