Generational Trend: Big Babies Tend to Have Big Babies

New research from Norway suggests that parents who were big babies themselves are more likely to have children with high birth weights. The study analyzed data from over 600,000 sets of babies and parents born in Norway between 1967 and 2002. The findings revealed that children of parents with macrosomia (high birth weight) had a substantially increased risk of high birth weight themselves. The risk was higher when both parents had high birth weights, but even having just one parent with a high birth weight increased the risk. Maternal obesity was also linked to higher birth weights, even in mothers who did not have macrosomia in infancy. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which genetics or habits play a role in this intergenerational pattern.