 News
16th November 2006
How dads affect their baby's height
If your baby isn't happy with his height when he grows up, he can blame
his father.
Researchers have discovered that a baby's height is determined by his
father, and his weight by his mother.
Scientists from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital found
that a father's weight does not influence how fat his child will be but
a mother's weight determines how much body fat her offspring will have.
Overweight mothers tend to have chubbier babies and it's
thought this is likely to be down to the environment in the womb - with
overweight mums tending to have higher levels of sugar in their blood.
The study looked at 1000 families and measured the height
and weight of mums, dads and children over a two year period.
Research midwife Dr Beatrice Knight said, "Obviously
one of the biggest influences on a baby's growth is the size of the mother.
"But we have confirmed that a father's height also has a
direct impact on their baby's growth, with taller dads having longer and
heavier babies."
She added, "Despite the initial reluctance of many fathers
to have bloods taken, we have managed to obtain a vast amount of high
quality information from the men in our study, for which we are enormously
grateful. This has proved essential in trying to identify the genetic
influences on babies' growth."
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