Study of parental diet and genetic effects on baby weight and height

Research on newborn babies has found that different characteristics may be attributable to mothers and fathers, with fathers contributing more to post-birth length and mothers determining weight. Researchers at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital have studied 1000 families measuring the weight and height of mothers, fathers and babies in the first two years of life. Maternal determination of birth weight is probably linked to the fact that environmental conditions in the womb directly influence the size of the baby, with overweight mothers tending to have higher levels of sugar in the blood. The clear link that the team have found between paternal height and baby length is likely to be explained by genetics. A spokesman for the hospital said, 'It is important to acknowledge that there are genetic as well as environmental factors so that we can understand more about babies' growth. The early growth of the baby, both in the womb and in the first few years of life, may be crucial for the development of their health in later life'.

The study measured children at birth, three months, one year and two years. In addition to height and weight, blood samples were also taken for genetic testing. Dr Beatrice Knight, a research midwife involved with the project 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. 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'.

In more work looking at the influence of diet on future generations, researchers at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California have found that maternal diet could determine a gene's behaviour over two generations. The team worked on a strain of mice with an overactive version of a gene for coat colour. Half of the experimental mice were given a diet enriched with nutrients which are known to increase 'methyl' groups, chemicals that are able to silence certain genes. The mice with the enriched diet subsequently gave birth to babies displaying darker coats - a consequence of switching off the gene for lighter fur. Despite the fact that this generation of mice were all fed a standard diet, when they had offspring those that had been exposed to the high nutrient diet whilst still in the womb gave birth to mice with darker coats than those which had been gestated on a standard diet. Researcher Kenneth Beckman said, 'The results make it clear that nutritional status can affect not only that individual, but that individual's children as well'.