Too many children in Wales are living with overweight or obesity before their third birthday, but a combination of early interventions and supportive environments could help change this. 

New analysis of routine data by Public Health Wales and Digital Health and Care Wales looked at the influences on rapid weight gain during the first 1000 days of a child’s life and the BMI of 4,044 children born in Wales in 2022. Of that sample, 15 per cent of children were living with overweight and nearly 12 per cent were living with obesity by the time they were 27 months old. 

Research shows that rapid weight gain in infancy is influenced by multiple factors, including feeding practices, introduction of solid foods, sleep patterns, and the wider environment. In this study, how infants were fed at six months was one factor that significantly influenced whether they had experienced rapid weight gain, as well as low birth weight and preterm birth. Those babies fed exclusively on formula milk had nearly double the chance of rapid weight gain compared to those exclusively breastfed.