Most children who are slow to gain weight in the nine months after birth reach the normal range by the time they are 13, according to a new study.
However, they are likely to stay shorter and lighter than their peers, research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol, UK, shows.
Writing in the 25 February edition of Pediatrics, Professor Alan Emond, the main author of the research, said that the findings should reassure parents who are worried about their babies.
The study is based on data from 11,499 participants enrolled in the Children of the 90s, all of whom were born at term. Of those, 507 were slow to put on weight before the age of eight weeks (“early group”) and 480 were slow to gain weight between eight weeks and nine months (“late group”). Thirty children were common to both groups.
The infants in the early group had almost caught up in weight by the age of two, whereas those in the later group gained weight slowly until the age of seven, after which they had a “spurt” of growth up to the age of 10. However, this latter group remained considerably shorter and lighter than their peers and those in the early group at the age of 13.
At 13, children in the later group were on average 5.5kg lighter and almost 4cm shorter than their peers; those in the early group were on average 2.5kg lighter and 3.25cm shorter than their peers.
Prof Emond said the study also demonstrated that there were different patterns of recovery between the early and late groups, even when other factors like the mother’s education, background, and her weight and height were taken into account. There was, however, little difference between boys and girls.
“The reason the early group caught up more quickly may be because those infants had obvious feeding difficulties and were more readily identified at the eight-week check, resulting in early treatment leading to a more rapid recovery,” he explained.
“Those children who showed slow weight gain later in infancy took longer to recover, because of the longer period of slow growth and because their parents were smaller and lighter too.
“Overall parents can be reassured that well babies showing slow weight gain in the first year do eventually recover to within the normal range, but at 13 years tend to be lighter and smaller than many of their peers.”
The study also highlights the importance of monitoring a baby’s weight and height gain during the first few weeks and months, but not creating anxiety with parents of slow-growing babies.
Alan Emond et al. Growth Outcomes of Weight Faltering in Infancy in ALSPAC. Pediatrics 25 February 2013. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-076
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