Early catch-up growth is a risk factor for childhood obesity

In the first 1-2 years of life there is wide variation in growth rates compared with later childhood. In a large birth cohort study, Ong et al (p 967) show that half of all children deviate significantly from their birth weight or length percentile position by two years. Overall, 30.7% of infants showed catch-up growth between zero and two years, and these children had greater body mass index, percentage fat mass, and waist circumference at five years. These children had been smaller and thinner at birth and had more maternal indicators of intrauterine growth restraint than the other children; thus factors that signal and regulate postnatal catch-up growth may contribute to associations between small size at birth and risks for disease in adulthood.