The Role of Genetics in Rapid Weight Gain

The only difference that we found between babies who had rapid weight gain and those who did not were those who were born smaller for gestational age. We know that genetics plays a large role in the development of later obesity, but I'm not sure if it plays a role in the actual rapid weight gain during infancy. At age four to six, female offspring with a high maternal pre pregnancy BMI followed by rapid weight gain had a BMI Z score around the 95th percentile. But if there was rapid weight gain without preceding maternal high BMI, or if there was no rapid weight gain, then those risks were much less.