Nursery World - Weight gain risk for girl infants

Baby girls who gain weight rapidly in the first nine months of life are more likely to be overweight at the age of ten, according to a new study.

Researchers from Bristol and Cambridge Universities looked at the weightand height measurements of 2,715 girls, which had been collected by theChildren of the 90s study in Bristol.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology andMetabolism, concluded that baby girls who gain weight rapidly are morelikely to be overweight later on and to start their periods early, whichis a risk factor for breast cancer.

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, science programme manager for the World CancerResearch Fund, which funded the study, said, 'This suggests that fasterweight gain early in infancy has an effect on childhood obesity andearly periods in girls, both of which have been shown to have an effecton risk of diseases such as cancer later in life. If we know what stagesof a baby's life are particularly important for increasing risk ofchildhood obesity, we may be able to make sure parents get health adviceat a time in their child's life when it can have the biggestimpact.'

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