Slow-growing babies 'catch-up' by teens

Babies who are slow to gain weight in the first months of their lives generally catch up with their peers by age 13, a new study has found.
Researchers said the results would reassure parents whose babies fail to put on weight quickly.
The study by the University of Bristol shows that most babies who are slow to put on weight in the first nine months of life have caught up to within the normal range by the age of 13.
There are significant differences in the pattern of 'catchup', depending on the infant's age when the slow weight gain occurs.

The new findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are based on data from 11,499 participants in Children of the 90s, and provide the most conclusive and reassuring evidence for parents to date that, with the right care, many infants who fail to put on weight quickly in the first nine months of life will catch up over time.
The study found that of the 11,499 infants born at term, 507 were slow to put on weight before the age of eight weeks and 480 were slow to gain weight between eight weeks and nine months. Thirty children were common to both groups.

The infants in the early group recovered quickly and had almost caught up in weight by the age of two, whereas those in the later group gained weight slowly until the age of 7, then had a 'spurt' between 7 and 10 years, but remained considerably shorter and lighter than their peers and those in the early group at the age of 13.

At that age, children in the later group were on average 5.5k lighter and almost 4cm shorter than their peers; those in the early group were on average 2.5k lighter and 3.25cm shorter than their peers.
The study shows that there were very different patterns of recovery between the early and late groups, even when other factors like the mother's education, background, and her weight and height were taken into account, but that there was little difference between boys and girls.

"The reason the early group caught up more quickly may be because those infants had obvious feeding difficulties and were more readily identified at the eight-week check, resulting in early treatment leading to a more rapid recovery," Professor Alan Emond, the study's main author said.
"However, as Children of the 90s is an observational study, there is limited information available about which infants received nutritional supplements or medical treatments.Use their parents were smaller and lighter too, he said in a statement.