Do chubby babies need a weight-loss program?
A new study suggests that a chubby baby who looks healthy has a good chance of becoming an obese teen facing a myriad of health problems including type 2 diabetes, elevated cholesterol and high blood pressure among others. In a study of 111 children whose body mass index exceeded 85 percent of the general population, Dr. John Harrington at Eastern Virginia Medical School and colleagues found that the children started gaining weight in infancy at an average rate of 0.08 excess BMI units per month. The progression in weight gain started when the children were three months old and over half the children became overweight at or before the age of 2 and 90 percent of them became overweight before reaching their fifth birthday. It should be noted that the study itself did not reveal any association between weight gain in infancy or childhood and obesity or other health problems in adulthood. Nevertheless, Dr. Harrington was cited as saying in a press release by SAGE Publications “Our study su
