Research results published in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics suggests that rapid weight gain during the first six months of life may predict that a child will be obese by age three.

“The perception has been that a chubby baby and a baby that grows fast early in life is healthier and all the baby fat will disappear,” said the paper’s lead author, Dr. Elsie Taveras, an assistant professor in Harvard Medical School’s ambulatory care and prevention department. “But [that] is not the case.”

Taveras was quick to point out, however, that parents should not put their chunky babies on diets.

“More work needs to be done to determine why rapid weight gain in infancy occurs before we can develop policy, clinical protocols and interventions,” said Taveras, who is also co-director of the One Step Ahead clinic, a pediatric overweight prevention program at Children’s Hospital Boston.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.