BMJ  2005;331 (22 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7522.0

Obesity begins in infancy

Heavy infants and those who grow rapidly are at increased risk of being obese later in life. In a systematic review, Baird and colleagues (p 929) found 22 cohort studies and two case-control studies that assessed the association between infant size or growth and subsequent obesity. Obese infants were up to nine times more likely than non-obese infants to become obese adults, and infants who grew rapidly were up to five times more likely to become obese adults compared with other infants. Strategies for preventing obesity may need to address factors during or before infancy, say the authors.

Credit: CAMILLE TOKERUD/GETTY


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Relevant Article

Being big or growing fast: systematic review of size and growth in infancy and later obesity
Janis Baird, David Fisher, Patricia Lucas, Jos Kleijnen, Helen Roberts, and Catherine Law
BMJ 2005 331: 929. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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