A study has shown that a specific cow’s milk formula can help infants gain weight quickly and eventually affect babies’ health. This is considered to be a very helpful finding as it is important to monitor a baby’s rapid weight gain because sooner or later it may lead to obesity and diabetes.

Researchers dedicated seven months to study different cow’s milk formula and they found out that infants who drank the formula gained 2 pounds and even higher. This is compared to those who drank milk with formula from protein hydrolysates, which is known to be digested easier.

Julie Mennella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia said that there are many factors that contribute to an infant’s weight gain. Early on, it was noted that formula-fed babies gained more weight than breast-fed babies. Babies who were made to drink cow’s milk formula drank more before signaling that they are full. This may be because of the reactions in the intestines of the baby when free amino acids are broken down. These amino acids are more abundant in hydrolysate based formulas, which are usually given to babies sensitive to cow’s milk, than in cow’s milk formula.

Infants who drank breast milk and hydrolysate-based milks did not gain weight, unlike those who drank cow’s milk who gained weight during the first seven months.During the study, 64 infants were made to drink formulas and were weighed every month.

Mennella said that rapid weight gain may lead an infant to become obese and may even develop metabolic syndrome.