Source: Xinhua

04-01-2009 10:07

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Babies who gain weight quickly in the first six months of life may be more prone to obesity as toddlers, according to a Harvard researchers report on Monday.

Babies who gain weight quickly in the first six months of life may be more prone to  obesity as toddlers.(File photo)

"There is increasing evidence that rapid changes in weight during infancy increase children's risk of later obesity," says researcher Elsie Taveras, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, in a news release. "The mounting evidence suggests that infancy may be a critical period during which to prevent childhood obesity and its related consequences."

In the journal published in Pediatrics, researchers divided 559 children into four groups based on measurements of their weights and heights at birth, six months and age 3. Nearly one of 10 children were obese at 3.

Those heaviest at birth and those gaining the most weight through age 6 months together had a 40 percent higher probability of being obese at age 3.

-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>