Skidmore said the higher proportions of fat in adulthood for these smaller babies was not drastically different when compared with their adult counterparts who were larger at birth.

The differences in adulthood for smaller babies amounted to hundreds of grams rather than kilograms of fat mass when measured against the heavier twins.

'But we can definitely say the twins who were smaller as babies had a propensity to accumulate more fat throughout the life cycle, whereas those with a higher birth weight had a more favourable body composition in adulthood,' Skidmore said.

These findings are slated for publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.