Father's ethnic background influences birthweight, study finds
Monday, June 30, 2014 - 20:02
in Psychology & Sociology
A father's ethnic background can influence a child's birthweight, a new study has found. Current birthweight curves -- graphs used to plot how one baby's weight compares to others of the same age -- assume that the parents are of Western European descent. That means many babies of an East Asian or South Asian mother may be classified as underweight, when in fact they are "normal" for their ethnic groups. The new study shows the same is true when the father is of Asian descent.