Babies born into large families less likely to thrive, say scientists

BABIES born into larger families are more likely to struggle to put on weight during the first nine months of their lives, researchers said yesterday.

An investigation into why some babies grow slower than others found a fourth child is twice as likely to develop slower than a first child. Even second and third babies are more likely to "fail to thrive", according to the study.

Academics at Bristol University also discovered a strong link between the height of parents and their baby's growth rate. Babies of short parents were eight times more likely to grow slowly when compared with babies with tall parents.