In an innovative study of physical activity patterns amongst new- born babies, it was observed that babies that move around too little during first year of life, are likely to develop fat around their middles. The study, which used tiny activity trackers to monitor babies’ movements, found strong association between infant’s squirming, kicking, crawling or stillness and level of fat around its waist.

The observation left provocative questions about just how early any links between inactivity and obesity might begin. For the new study, researchers from John Hopkins University and other institutions, decided to fit baby-size trackers to infants’ ankles and watch how they wiggled.

It was observed that activity increased as babies grew older. Babies’ daily physical activities grew by about 4% over the course of each three-month period, marking their normal progress toward starting to stand, crawl and toddle.

According to recent estimates most school going children in USA sit for more than eight hours a day while children as young as 2 or 3 years can be sedentary for 90% of their working time. These statistics are concerning because other studies suggest that inactive children face much higher risks of becoming overweight or obese than children who keep moving.