Posted on June 11, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
It seems rapid weight-gain as an infant can lead to obesity later in life.
WebMD reports:
In a separate study from Finland, researchers found little evidence of an obesity link associated with rapid weight gain before the age of 2. But rapid weight gain after the second birthday was found to be a risk factor for obesity later in life.
The study included 885 Finnish men and 1,032 women between the ages of 56 and 70, whose childhood weights and heights were known from medical records.
Rapid weight gain before age 2 was associated with increases in lean mass while rapid gains later in childhood predicted higher body fat in adulthood.
In the third study, rapid weight gain during the first six months of life was found to increase obesity risk later in childhood.
Researchers from London's Institute of Child Health investigated the associations between weight gain during different periods in infancy and later body composition in 105 boys and 129 girls living in the U.K.
The three studies are not the first to link early growth to later obesity.
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