Big babies are almost THREE TIMES more likely to be obese when they start school
- If newborns weigh more than 8.8lbs (4kg) and have mothers with diabetes
- Are 2.79 times more likely to start primary school carrying too much weight
- Infants are more likely to be born heavy if their mothers are overweight
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Big babies are almost three times more likely to be obese as children, research suggests.
Newborns who weigh more than 8.8lbs (4kg) and whose mothers had diabetes while they were pregnant face the highest risk.
They are 2.79 times more likely to be obese or overweight by the time they start school than babies born weighing a normal amount.
Infants are more likely to be born heavy if their mothers are overweight or if they piled on the pounds during pregnancy.
Experts say this can lead to babies becoming obese in later life if they inherit their mothers’ genes for the condition or if they pick up on her unhealthy eating habits.
Big babies are almost three times more likely to be obese as children (stock)
Researchers from the University of Alberta analysed 81,226 pre-school children born between January 2005 and August 2013 in the Canadian province.
The youngsters were put into groups according to their height, weight, size at birth and whether their mothers had diabetes while pregnant.
This was then linked back to their birth-registry data, as well as their mothers’ hospitalisation records during pregnancy.
By the time they started school, 21 per cent of those born a healthy weight and to mothers without diabetes were overweight or obese.
This is compared to 43 per cent of the newborns who were heavy at birth and whose mothers suffered from gestational diabetes.
Taking in too many calories during pregnancy means more go to the developing foetus, causing it to grow more than it should.
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The researchers, led by Dr Padma Kaul, took into account both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, with the link to childhood obesity being stronger for mothers with type 2.
Being ‘large for gestational age’ (LGA) – born heavier than the 90th percentile – raises a baby’s risk of childhood obesity by 39 per cent alone, the study found.
Percentiles compare youngsters to others their same age. For example, if a three-month-old is in the 40th percentile for weight, that means that 40 per cent of three-month-olds weigh the same or less than that baby.
Even if a baby is born a normal size, the study found they are 16 per cent more likely to be obese if their mother had gestational diabetes and 15 per cent more at risk if she had diabetes before becoming pregnant.
But breastfeeding in the first five months of a newborn’s life reduces a baby’s risk of carrying too much weight as a child by around 25 per cent.
This benefit does not apply, however, to LGA babies born to mothers with diabetes.
The study was published in the journal Diabetologia.
The scientists stress being LGA may be modifiable by controlling a woman’s weight gain and blood-glucose levels during pregnancy.
‘We hope that these findings will reinforce public health campaigns advising women who are planning to get pregnant,’ the authors wrote.
‘Just like smoking, alcohol consumption and other lifestyle choices, their weight prior to getting pregnant, and weight gain and blood sugar control during pregnancy, may have a significant impact on the future health of their children.’
In the US, nearly one in five school-age children have obesity, while as many as one in five in the UK enter education with the condition.
Among children, research suggests that 70 per cent of obese youngsters have high blood pressure or raised cholesterol, which puts them at risk of heart disease.
Obese children are also significantly more likely to become obese adults. And if children are overweight, their obesity in adulthood is often more severe.
This comes after research released earlier this month found obese children are less likely to ‘flourish’ at school.
Youngsters carrying dangerous amounts of weight fail to meet the five markers of flourishing compared to those who are a healthy size or overweight, according to a study by Brown University.
These markers include not finishing their homework, having a disinterest in how well they do in school and failing to complete tasks they have started.
WHAT IS OBESITY? AND WHAT ARE ITS HEALTH RISKS?
Obesity is defined as an adult having a BMI of 30 or over.
A healthy person’s BMI – calculated by dividing weight in kg by height in metres, and the answer by the height again – is between 18.5 and 24.9.
Among children, obesity is defined as being in the 95th percentile.
Percentiles compare youngsters to others their same age.
For example, if a three-month-old is in the 40th percentile for weight, that means that 40 per cent of three-month-olds weigh the same or less than that baby.
Around 58 per cent of women and 68 per cent of men in the UK are overweight or obese.
The condition costs the NHS around £6.1billion, out of its approximate £124.7 billion budget, every year.
This is due to obesity increasing a person’s risk of a number of life-threatening conditions.
Such conditions include type 2 diabetes, which can cause kidney disease, blindness and even limb amputations.
Research suggests that at least one in six hospital beds in the UK are taken up by a diabetes patient.
Obesity also raises the risk of heart disease, which kills 315,000 people every year in the UK – making it the number one cause of death.
Carrying dangerous amounts of weight has also been linked to 12 different cancers.
This includes breast, which affects one in eight women at some point in their lives.
Among children, research suggests that 70 per cent of obese youngsters have high blood pressure or raised cholesterol, which puts them at risk of heart disease.
Obese children are also significantly more likely to become obese adults.
And if children are overweight, their obesity in adulthood is often more severe.
As many as one in five children start school in the UK being overweight or obese, which rises to one in three by the time they turn 10.
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