U. S. researchers have warned that baby fat may slow motor skills development.

Infants with rolls of fat under their skin were 2.32 times as likely as babies without fat rolls to have low scores on the Psychomotor Development Index test, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found.

The researchers say that their study has found that overweight infants may have future health problems, but infant-weight status may have an immediate consequence i. e. overweight infants are more likely to take longer than thinner babies to crawl and walk.

Lead author Meghan Slining, a doctoral student in nutrition, says in a statement, "This is concerning because children with motor skill delays may be less physically active and thus less likely to explore the environment beyond arm's reach."

217 African-American first-time mothers and their babies in their homes from 2003-2007 were visited by the researchers. They weighed and measured the children at each visit. The researchers also assessed the motor skills of the children at 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months. (With Inputs from Agencies)