Babies who struggle to gain weight in the first months of life often catch up to their peers by the age of 13, says a new study for researchers at the U.K.'s University of Bristol. For the study, the researchers reviewed data on 11,499 babies born in Bristol in the 1990s.
In all, 507 of the children struggled to gain weight in the first eight weeks of life. Most kids in this group had caught up to their peers in weight by the age of two. Another 480 were slow to gain weight between 8 weeks and 9 months. This group gained weight slowly until the age of seven and then enjoyed a growth spurt at thirteen.
"In the past, a lot of parents have been caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety by health professionals and this is a positive and reassuring message," said Prof Alan Emond from the University of Bristol.
"The second point for health professionals is that for a child that is well with no symptoms they can be relaxed and not worry about pushing calories because you can push them the other way."
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