Rapid weight gain in infancy linked to risk of obesity at 3

Ya know, this is ridiculous. i don't believe any of it. We can create any conclusion we want from any kind of "study". This is bull. If we want to find out why people become obese, we can look to a sedentary lifestyle and a carb rich diet. From infant to adulthood, a body and all it's chemistry will change over and over again. Let's keep the focus on "habits" and lifestyle rather than waste money on studying the weight gain of babies, a totally natural and normal occurrence.

How about a study taken from the time a child is able to walk to the age of five and compare those that have outdoor play and exercise and eat snacks like carrots and apples to those that watch Teletubbies and eat crap all day?

The last thing we need it parents obsessing over their infants weight. There is already an obsession in this country with body image and eating disorders. Now we are involving infants? This could only lead to mothers depriving their infants of food to control their imaginary "weight problem."

I agree, this is silly. The last thing the medical community should want is mom's worrying their babies are getting too fat and restricting food. This really sends the wrong message. Besides, I have 4 nieces and nephews, who were all pleasantly plump as infants who have grow up to to be active, lean, athletic, and healthy kids.

this is completely ridiculous.

how about instead of spending money on this, there is money spent getting lazy kids out of the house?

unreal.

When parents make their child's weight an issue at a young age, it almost ensures that the child will have an obesity problem. I find this study to be detrimental to the whole process of finding a way to make people healthier. My doctor told my parents that I was too heavy as a child and as a result I had serious issues with food before I was seven years old! I'm a healthy adult now and I think that some babies are just fat. I know plenty of fat babies that turn out to be completely healthy,active, productive members of society.

Look At the Parents if they are fat . Its a good chance the children will be. Eat only what god made.

Dan, by "lazy kids" im sure you meant lazy parents right!.....?

Why so much upset over this study? It's just a scientific study. It's what scientists do. They come up with an idea, they test it, and they publish the results. Sometimes the results are groundbreaking, other times not. As far as I can tell, there are no recommendations of any type coming out of this study for people to put their babies on diets or otherwise limit growth or make any changes in their actions at all. They are simply reporting a link that they've found between certain patterns of growth and later obesity. Modern science and medicine is built on hundreds of thousands of studies by inquisitive people. Let's try not to undermine the process because we think we're so smart we already know all the answers.

This is crazy. Plenty of "chubby" babies grow up healthy. I want more information on what foods the parents feed the kids, and how much TV they watch! A waste of money to fund studies like this. We already know why some kids get fat and others don't. Some kids eat well and exercise and other kids don't.

This is criminal. Now we should withhold food from newborn so they can fall within the chart?!! My son was gaining weight like mad for the first 12 month of his life--and then stopped--everything went to height. He is slender, super healthy, and very tall 5-year old now. His dad was similar in his growth. He is skinny 6 ft. tall man. It is in their genes. We have no obese people in our family but our babies are very chubby. Now we should feel guilty about it? And try to control it?
Forgive me for a rant -- but this is screwed up thinking and reflects on general decay of brain and culture in the USA. So sad and utterly stupid.
New moms, unless you're seriously obese and have serious health issues with your metabolism that can be inherited, PLEASE disregard this crap and enjoy your babies. Feed them on the demand and do not feel guilty that they are chubby. Most babies are chubby by their nature. Try to eat healthy yourself, and make sure once they can move that your kids have lots of outdoor play as well as healthy food put in front of them. Try to forget microwave and prepared food. We humans need fresh air and fresh food to stay healthy.

The study is valid. The reason people are upset is that they are confusing populations and individuals. One can think of exceptions to the rule, but population studies are about trends, not biological rules or laws. On average, babies who gain a LOT of weight early in life will be heavier later in life. That's all it says, and frankly it's not exactly an earth-shattering finding. Nobody is arguing for the starving of babies.

nobody is arguing for the starving of babies...that is not what we are saying. The problem is that (some) people will use the information incorrectly!

how about doctors in the newborn nursery who freak over naturally occuring weight loss and insist on suppplementing breastfeeding infants? Moms are brainwashed into thinking that their babies MUST gain from the minute they are born or they are 'bad' mothers!!!
It is normal for infants to be "chubby" in their first year of life...it is meant to protect them...as they start to move around they should become slender...provided they MOVE!

I agree with those who worry that this will just lead to parents counting their newborn's calories and potentially depriving them of what their growing bodies may genuinely crave and need. Some kids grow fast from the start, some slowly- doesn't guarantee any specific outcome (assuming your kids get proper exercise and a range of foods in their system). Babies need their early nourishment and from what I've seen, they themselves are pretty good judges of how much, how often.

Really the fact that people are taking offense to this study is ridiculous. Lets just stop all research that brings to light facts about the general population that we don't want to know, or that may potentially lead people to interpret the results incorrectly. No one said anything about watching the caloric intake of an infant or starving them. To even connect the two is absolutely ignorant.

People also seem to be missing that they are talking about weight gain relating to length gain too.
If you kid is in the 95th percentile for weight but also for height then they are probably going to fall into the low risk bucket. If the kid is 95th weight and 25th height then is already "fat" and is more likely to stay "fat".
As someone else pointed out this is not exactly the unintuitive insight ever!

I agree with some of the comments here. I'm a very slender 5'10" runner. My wife is a no very slender 4'11" college student. Our son, 4, is currently categorized obese. Our daughter, 1, is very rotund. My stepdaughter, whose dad is stocky, is very thin. When our family doctor told me our son is obese, I panicked. As a dad who has not seen other children grow in the first few years, I have no idea what to expect. From the sound of things here, rotundness isn't necessarily a big deal for babies. My son is growing tall and is solidly built but I'm no longer concerned about his weight. he is very dense but is not round. Jury still out on the 1 year old...

Doctors need to get serious about informing parents about healthy builds for children, not worrying us about where our children fall on the "official" height/weight scale. BMI is one indication, but I'm no longer sure it is a true indicator that a child is doomed to obesity later in life.