Chubbiness in kids may be endearing, but it comes with a heavy price. A new study suggests that babies who are too fat in their infancy may not only be predisposed to obesity later in life but it may also delay their ability to move about as babies.
Experts theorize that pudgy infants may be slower than their thinner counterparts in developing motor skills, which include lifting one’s head, rolling over, sitting up, balancing, crawling and walking, as they tend to be less physically active because of the excess weight they lug around.
Lead author of the study, Meghan Slining, nutrition doctoral student at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill stated, “This is concerning because children with motor skill delays may be less physically active and thus less likely to explore the environment beyond arm’s reach.”
