An egg a day helps babies stay healthy

Eggs can be affordable and easily accessible. Photo / Getty Images

Giving babies an egg every day could be the best way to help them thrive, scientists believe.

A daily egg reduced their chances of stunted growth or becoming underweight and made them less likely to eat sugary food.

They also had higher levels of important nutrients such as vitamin B12 in their blood compared with those who were not regularly consuming eggs.

The often messy ritual of feeding infants an egg each day has fallen out of favour, with NHS figures showing 73 per cent of babies had fewer than one egg a week at eight months.

Dr Lora Iannotti, of Washington University in the US, divided children aged six to nine months into two groups - one of 83 children who were fed an egg a day and another of 80 who had eggs less often. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found cases of underweight children fell by 74 per cent in the group given eggs. Stunted growth fell by 47 per cent and they also ate less sweetened food.

Dr Iannotti said: "Eggs can be affordable and easily accessible.

"They are a good source of nutrients for growth and development in young children. We were surprised by how effective this intervention proved to be."

Last year a panel of Government scientists concluded that the risk of contracting salmonella from UK eggs is 'very low'.

In a review, they said that pregnant women, the elderly and toddlers can safely enjoy eggs as long as they have the British Lion kitemark on their shell.