The Observer | UK News | Why big babies are not so healthy
Sunday January 23, 2005
The Observer
"A Chubby baby has been seen for years as the epitome of good health, but new research on the way children grow is set to overturn the belief that big is beautiful. A six-year study by the World Health Organisation into how more than 8,000 children across different continents put on weight in their first years has revealed that those given the best start in life - by being breast-fed and having non-smoking mothers - ended up significantly lighter than the optimum weights suggested by current guidelines. Child growth charts are now based largely on studies that mostly looked at babies fed on formula milk. The new work suggests that for years experts across the world have been significantly overestimating how many pounds babies should weigh.... "