Child That Loses Baby Fat Early Apt To Be Obese

The earlier children lose their baby fat and reach the leanest point of their growing-up years, the more likely they will become obese, suggests a study released Monday.

The finding held true regardless of whether children’s parents were overweight, which is already known to be a strong indicator of a child’s future size, researchers reported in the March issue of Pediatrics.

The new finding suggests something biologically important may be happening at about age 6, researchers said.

Meanwhile, federal researchers reported that the number of overweight children continued to increase through 1994.

By then, about 4.5 million children, or 11 percent of youngsters ages 6 to 17, were markedly overweight. That compares with about 5.5 percent in 1980 and about 4 percent in 1963-65.

In the first report, researchers found that children who lose their baby fat and reach their thinnest point of childhood before age 5 are more than twice as likely to be obese adults as children who reach the thinnest point after age 5.