By Jeremy Laurance
Small babies with low birth weights, who are known to be at greater risk of heart disease and high blood pressure in later life, are suffering a double handicap by being fed extra to compensate for their small size.
The well-meaning action of parents who are anxious for their small offspring to catch up with normal weight babies is sowing the seeds of obesity in later life, Professor Philip James said.
Professor James, chairman of the International Taskforce on Obesity, told a conference in London on the childhood causes of adult obesity that evidence was growing that babies who suffered poor nutrition in the womb, followed by rapid growth after birth, were at increased risk of health problems in later life.
"The combination of being born small and growing well puts up blood pressure and insulin resistance (leading to diabetes) in a remarkable fashion. In Glasgow and elsewhere where there is a high prevalence of low birth weight, I think we are handicapping a whole generation," he said.
Professor James, head of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen and an adviser to the government on food policy, said it was a natural response for parents to think they had to feed their children up to make up for their poor start.
But evidence from international studies in countries where low birth weight was more common demonstrated the unexpected damage it could do.
Latest figures show more than 15 percent of school-age children are overweight, with 1,5 percent obese.
The biggest risk for children of growing up to be fat adults is to have fat parents, Dr Christine Power, of the Institute of Child Health, told the conference.