Fussy kids turn liars, bully schoolmates later: Study

London, Jul 5 (UNI) If your infant throws tantrums at the dining table and refuses to eat anything, then its time you take him to a doctor as a recent research has proved that fussy babies are more likely to develop behaviour problems later in life.

The study found fussy babies were likely to grow into tiny tyrants who rule the roost at home and often prove troublesome at school.

Their bad behaviour seem to follow them into their early teens as they develop into children who disobey parents and cheat, lie, and bully at school, doctors noted.

The researchers said children who were less moody and more predictable as infants were at 'very low risk' of future behaviour problems.

The study define fussy babies as those who refused or took a long time to feed, were hungry or tired at different times each day, were constantly demanding attention, or would not sleep in the evenings and through the night.

The US study, which published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, tracked nearly 2,000 children from birth to the age of 13 and found that genetics played an important part in a child's behaviour.

The US report said that both early parenting style and infant temperament were strong predictors of future behaviour.

''The findings also point to the potential benefits of teaching new parents the skills they need,'' lead researcher Dr Benjamin Lahey of Chicago University said.

''Helping the parents would be beneficial in preventing future child conduct problems,'' Dr Lahey told the Daily Mail.

The report added that no matter what the parenting style, children whose mothers gave them plenty of intellectual stimulation in the first year of life by reading to them, talking to them and taking them out of the house were less likely to have serious behaviour problems.

It said good behaviour might reflect how generally caring and affectionate parents are. But stimulating activities during infancy could also aid children's language development, making it easier for them to communicate and socialise so they were less frustrated.

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