Baby growth charts can predict children's risk of obesity
Katy Morton
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Children who are overweight in their first two years of life are more likely to be obese at age five and older, suggests a new study.
According to researchers from the Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School in the US, the growth charts doctors use at check-ups can predict a baby’s risk of becoming obese later in life.
A child’s length and weight is measured from birth to the age of three and the result is placed on a growth chart as a percentile.
If a child is in the 40th percentile, that means that 40 per cent of children the same age and gender weigh the same or less and 60 per cent weigh more.
The study found that children who rose two or more weight-for-length percentiles between birth and two years old doubled their odds of obesity at age five and were nearly twice as likely to be obese at age 10.
Children who started in the 75th or 90th percentile and rose two or more percentile points in their first six months were considered to be at the greatest risk of becoming obese. Those below the 25th weight-for-length percentile at one month old and who remained there at six months of age were least likely to be obese at age five.
Among the 44,000 children the researchers tracked, 43 per cent rose two or more percentiles during their first six months, and 64 per cent during their first 24 months. Of those, nearly 12 per cent were obese at the age of five and 16 per cent at the age of ten.
Elsie Taveras, one of the authors of the study, said, ‘We shouldn’t neglect these early gains and think that it is just baby fat, and that these children are going to grow out of it. Crossing two or more percentiles in weight-for-length should trigger a discussion between parents and their pediatric providers of what’s contributing to the rapid gains. Children are different than adults, and we wouldn’t put them on a diet but we can detect some possible early risk factors that could be targets for counseling.’
Ms Taveras makes a number of recommendations to combat childhood obesity including:
The study, ‘Crossing Growth Percentiles in Infancy and Risk of Obesity in Childhood’, is published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine journal.
A child’s length and weight is measured from birth to the age of three and the result is placed on a growth chart as a percentile.
If a child is in the 40th percentile, that means that 40 per cent of children the same age and gender weigh the same or less and 60 per cent weigh more.
The study found that children who rose two or more weight-for-length percentiles between birth and two years old doubled their odds of obesity at age five and were nearly twice as likely to be obese at age 10.
Children who started in the 75th or 90th percentile and rose two or more percentile points in their first six months were considered to be at the greatest risk of becoming obese. Those below the 25th weight-for-length percentile at one month old and who remained there at six months of age were least likely to be obese at age five.
Among the 44,000 children the researchers tracked, 43 per cent rose two or more percentiles during their first six months, and 64 per cent during their first 24 months. Of those, nearly 12 per cent were obese at the age of five and 16 per cent at the age of ten.
Elsie Taveras, one of the authors of the study, said, ‘We shouldn’t neglect these early gains and think that it is just baby fat, and that these children are going to grow out of it. Crossing two or more percentiles in weight-for-length should trigger a discussion between parents and their pediatric providers of what’s contributing to the rapid gains. Children are different than adults, and we wouldn’t put them on a diet but we can detect some possible early risk factors that could be targets for counseling.’
Ms Taveras makes a number of recommendations to combat childhood obesity including:
- Breastfeeding babies as long as possible
- Avoiding sugary drinks
- Not introducing solid foods before four months old.
- Ensuring children get enough sleep - 12 hours or more in a 24 hour period.
- Giving babies more opportunity to move, rather than confining them to pushchairs.
- Avoiding exposure to food marketing and limiting screen time.
The study, ‘Crossing Growth Percentiles in Infancy and Risk of Obesity in Childhood’, is published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine journal.
