Maternal overweight and smoking habit during pregnancy escalate the risk of having children prone to obesity, researchers while analyzing the factors linked to childhood obesity warn.
The study also identified high birth weight and fast weight gain during the early stages adding to the risks. However, breastfeeding and late introduction of solid food were found reducing the risks.
For the study, the researchers included studies that followed children's health from birth to age two, published between 1990 and 2011.
They looked at 30 studies, with 200,000 participants to examine the major risk factors that lead to childhood obesity.
At the end of the analysis, the investigators identified four factors linked to childhood obesity - maternal pre-pregnancy overweight, high infant birth weight, rapid weight gain in the first year after birth, and maternal smoking habit (47 percent).
"There was some evidence associating early introduction of solid foods and childhood overweight," the authors wrote.
They couldn't find any link between maternal age, educational status, maternal depression, infant ethnicity and childhood overweight. They also found breastfeeding reducing the risks by 15 percent.
According to the authors, more studies should be conducted to re-confirm the risk factors of childhood obesity early, to provide proper intervention.
"Several risk factors for both overweight and obesity in childhood are identifiable during infancy. Future research needs to focus on whether it is clinically feasible for healthcare professionals to identify infants at greatest risk," the authors concluded.
The review has been published online Oct. 29 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
The findings come at a time when obesity has emerged as a major problem affecting the young generation in the country. According to a CDC report, about 14 percent of women continue to smoke even after getting pregnant and 17 percent of all American children and teens are obese.
