Faster weight gain during the first month of infancy helps improve intellectual capacity of a child, a new study says.
Researchers from the University of Adelaide looked at 13,800 full-term babies and found that babies who had gained 40 percent of their birth weight before turning a month old had 1.5 points higher IQ when compared to babies who gained only 15 percent of their birth weight in the first month.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, full-term babies normally weigh six to nine pounds at birth and start losing some weight during the first week after birth only to regain the exact birth weight by the tenth or the fourteenth day. After that, they nearly gain five to seven pounds a week for some period.
Gaining rapid weight in the first month especially developed children's verbal IQ. The speedy weight gain leaves a positive impact on the "neural structures for verbal IQ" that normally develops during the early stages of growth, explaining the mechanism behind the occurrence, researchers said.
Another interesting finding was the link between the increased head circumference in the first month and high IQ levels later. Babies with bigger head sizes were found to be highly intelligent at school.
"Head circumference is an indicator of brain volume, so a greater increase in head circumference in a newborn baby suggests more rapid brain growth," lead author of the study, Dr Lisa Smithers, said in a news release. "Overall, newborn children who grew faster in the first four weeks had higher IQ scores later in life."
Finding the hidden benefits of a healthy weight gain during the first month, researchers urged new moms to take extra precautions while feeding their babies.
The study has been reported in Pediatrics.
