Slow-growing babies 'catch-up' by teens

Babies who are slow to gain weight in the first months of their lives generally catch up to their peers by age 13, a large UK study shows.

Researchers, writing in the journal Pediatrics, said the results would reassure parents whose babies fail to put on weight quickly.

And they warn against boosting the calorie intake of slow-growing babies as this may increase obesity.

Experts said that monitoring of weight gain in infants remained vital.

The researchers looked at data from 11,499 children who took part in a large study in Bristol in the 1990s.

It showed that 507 who were slow to gain weight in the first eight weeks of life recovered fairly quickly and had almost caught up by the age of two years.

Another group of 480 children who were slow to gain between eight weeks and nine months continued to put on weight slowly until they were seven years, but then had a spurt and caught up by the age of 13.