Rapid Infant Weight Gain Linked to Obesity

BOSTON—Rapid weight gain during the first six months of life may place a child at risk for obesity by age 3, according to a new study appearing in the April edition of the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers studied 559 children, measuring weight and body length at birth, six months and three years. They found that sudden gains throughout early infancy influenced later obesity more so than weight at birth.

“There is increasing evidence that rapid changes in weight during infancy increase children’s risk of later obesity,” said lead author Elsie Taveras, assistant professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention and co-director of the One Step Ahead clinic, a pediatric overweight prevention program at Children’s Hospital Boston. “The mounting evidence suggests that infancy may be a critical period during which to prevent childhood obesity and its related consequences.”