Early postnatal weight gain: comparisons between Asian and Caucasian infants

Little is known about the early weight gain of British born Asian babies. This study sets out to compare weight gain of 34 healthy Asian term babies with 34 white Caucasian babies over the first two months of life. The Asian infants were lighter at birth but their rate of weight gain did not differ significantly from their white Caucasian counterparts. These findings offer indirect support for the hypothesis that the smaller size at birth of Asian babies is not due to intrauterine growth retardation. Had this occurred a greater weight gain indicating 'catch-up growth would have been expected.