[shri]

According to an article in the SCMP today, the weight of the newborn babies is related to the stress levels of the parents.

Some quotes from the report include:-

The researchers warned that underweight babies had a higher risk of diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems when they matured. They are also more likely to be smaller in build.

The findings showed women who had lived in Hong Kong for seven years or longer gave birth to smaller babies than those whose mothers were new settlers. The newborns of permanent residents were 90 grams lighter and one millimetre smaller in head circumference.

Mothers who took less than four weeks of antenatal leave also had babies 15 grams lighter and 0.6mm shorter in body length on average.

Newborns with jobless fathers weighed 19 grams less and were 1mm shorter than those whose fathers were employed.

Something fairly obvious.... but you'd have thought people would know this by now.

The study showed smoking mothers have a four times higher risk of giving birth to babies weighing less than 2.5kg - or 160 grams lighter than average newborns. Their babies were also found to be 5.2mm smaller in head circumference and 8.3mm shorter in body length.

"We are worried the head circumference might reflect the brain development of babies," Professor Ng warned.

However, the study showed babies since 2000 weighed 212 grams heavier on average than those born 15 years ago due to better nutrition in mothers. Newborns now weigh 3.29 kilograms on average - but are still 100 grams lighter than babies in Britain, 120 to 230 grams lighter than those in Australia (depending on the length of pregnency) and 280 to 300 grams lighter than those in Norway.

Not sure if this is diet and genetic related. The "grown charts" what we were given at the cannosa were definately different from US (CDC) charts and were geared towards Asian babies according to the hospital.