Healthier Babies and Baby Competitions
Do Tall Moms Have Healthier Babies?
Height isn’t a factor that a woman can control, but, surprisingly, it may play a role in how healthy her children are. According to a new study, short moms are more likely to deliver babies that die during childhood or experience growth delays.
Do Tall Moms Have Healthier Babies?
Having healthier babies could be related to height – at least according to a new study carried out at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the journal JAMA.
Researchers discovered after looking at data from 54 developing countries over a seventeen year period that children born to short moms have a forty percent higher risk of dying as children compared to kids born to taller moms. Moms were considered to be short when they were four feet nine inches or under.
Why are short moms less likely to have a healthy baby? The lead author of the study believes that maternal height is an indicator of overall health and nutritional status. He hypothesizes that women who are shorter are more likely to have experienced periods of malnutrition or ill health during their growth years compared to taller ones.
Babies of Short Moms Less Likely to Thrive
In this study, not only did children born to short moms have a higher risk of death, they were more likely to experience delayed growth, be underweight, and were less likely to thrive. In this study, height was almost as important a factor as a mom’s level of education and income as determinants of a future child’s health.
Short Moms vs. Tall Moms: Does It Hold True for All Moms?
Of course this study looked at women who had babies in developing countries where the risk of malnutrition is higher. It’s not clear whether this would hold true for moms in developed countries such as the United States – although another study looking at maternal height and infant mortality carried out in India came to a similar conclusion. In this study, children born to taller moms were less likely to die during childhood and more likely to thrive.
The Bottom Line?
At least in developing countries, short moms have a higher risk of having children who die during childhood or who experience growth delays and failure to thrive. How concerning is this? It’s important not to read too much into this study since height is also determined by genetics – not just nutritional status. It’s best to worry about factors that most moms-to-be can control – such as eating a healthy diet and getting good prenatal care during pregnancy.
Do Tall Moms Have Healthier Babies?
Having healthier babies could be related to height – at least according to a new study carried out at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the journal JAMA.
Researchers discovered after looking at data from 54 developing countries over a seventeen year period that children born to short moms have a forty percent higher risk of dying as children compared to kids born to taller moms. Moms were considered to be short when they were four feet nine inches or under.
Why are short moms less likely to have a healthy baby? The lead author of the study believes that maternal height is an indicator of overall health and nutritional status. He hypothesizes that women who are shorter are more likely to have experienced periods of malnutrition or ill health during their growth years compared to taller ones.
Babies of Short Moms Less Likely to Thrive
In this study, not only did children born to short moms have a higher risk of death, they were more likely to experience delayed growth, be underweight, and were less likely to thrive. In this study, height was almost as important a factor as a mom’s level of education and income as determinants of a future child’s health.
Short Moms vs. Tall Moms: Does It Hold True for All Moms?
Of course this study looked at women who had babies in developing countries where the risk of malnutrition is higher. It’s not clear whether this would hold true for moms in developed countries such as the United States – although another study looking at maternal height and infant mortality carried out in India came to a similar conclusion. In this study, children born to taller moms were less likely to die during childhood and more likely to thrive.
The Bottom Line?
At least in developing countries, short moms have a higher risk of having children who die during childhood or who experience growth delays and failure to thrive. How concerning is this? It’s important not to read too much into this study since height is also determined by genetics – not just nutritional status. It’s best to worry about factors that most moms-to-be can control – such as eating a healthy diet and getting good prenatal care during pregnancy.