Newborn weight gain linked to obesity risk

Rapid weight gain during the first six months of life may place a child at risk for obesity by age 3, Boston researchers said.

Elsie Taveras and Matthew Gillman, both of the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, studied 559 children, measuring both weight and body length at birth, six months and three years. They found that sudden gains throughout early infancy influenced later obesity more than weight at birth did.

The study, published in the April edition of the journal Pediatrics, found the connection between rapid infant weight gain and later obesity was striking — even after adjusting for factors such as premature birth or low birth weight.

For example, two infants with the same birth weight, after six months weighed 16.9 pounds and 18.4 pounds, a 1.5 pounds difference. The heavier of the two infants would have a 40 percent higher risk of obesity at age 3.

There is increasing evidence that rapid changes in weight during infancy increase children’s risk of later obesity, Taveras said in a statement. The mounting evidence suggests that infancy may be a critical period during which to prevent childhood obesity and its related consequences.