A Harvard study, the first to document the spread of the obesity epidemic to infants, reported yesterday that Massachusetts children under age 6 have gotten heavier since 1980, but the risk of being overweight has jumped the most for babies under 6 months.The findings, published in the journal Obesity, add to concerns that the growing number of children who are born heavy or gain weight quickly in early life are likelier to face future health problems, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and possibly asthma.

It may be time for Americans to give up the traditional idea that a fat baby is a healthy baby, said Dr. Matthew Gillman, the study’s senior author.

Source: Boston.com

The study focuses on the idea that illnesses are likely to happen later in life if you were an overweight infant. However, further in the article the author talks about the correlation between overweight pregnancies and kids who grow up overweight. I can maybe understand the correlation of an obese pregnancy leading to an obese child. However, I would still have the opinion that places blame on eating habits. Luckily, America’s eating habits are changing. America is in a Renaissance of healthy eating. Nutrition facts, facts about trans fats, organic products, fast food joints adding healthier items to their menus, and more education of what foods/additives affect our bodies will ultimately determine if our children are likely to grow up obese.

There are always genetic situations to consider when talking about being overweight. Some people are predisposed to being obese. This is a subject I’m far from an expert on (maybe we could bring one to Baby Talkers for some quesitons?), but genetics is one situation where some of the article’s correlations make sense.