2. How health visitors can support parents of babies at greater risk of overweight

The key to reducing the risk of an infant becoming an overweight child is to help parents manage the rate at which their infants grow.

All infants need to grow steadily, keeping pace with their gestational age and other physiological markers such as head circumference and length.

Healthcare professionals, parents and carers can be influenced by society’s preference for rapid infant growth and bigger infants.

A helpful first step for the healthcare professional is to use centile charts to reinforce or promote steady weight gain (tracking centiles) rather than rapid weight gain (rising up centiles).