New research has suggested that babies given solid foods before they are four months old are more likely to be overweight at the age of three than other infants.

More than one in four (26%) babies given solids before four months were overweight aged three compared with 22% of those fed solids later on.

The same held true when the youngsters reached five, with 24% of those given solids before four months being overweight compared with 20% of those given solids after four months.

The research also found that children who were not breastfed were more likely to be overweight (23% compared with 18% of those breastfed for four months or more).

Experts from University College London examined data for more than 12,000 youngsters participating in the UK-wide Millennium Cohort Study.

Whilst this is certainly of interest, I don't think there is enough of a discrepancy between the figures to cause great alarm, however it is generally recommended not to feed your baby solids (real food) before four months for other reasons such as increasing the risk of allergies and childhood asthma, so for many reasons it's best not to introduce solids ideally until your baby is 6 months. 

Having said that, all babies are different, so you should certainly be discussing the introduction of solids into your babies diet with your health visitor once your baby is over the age of 4 months.