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PHILADELPHIA, Dec 05, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A short mother and a fat father are more likely to produce underweight babies who turn into overweight adults, British researchers said Friday.
Research summarized in the latest issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, published in Philadelphia, concluded that low birth weight and excess weight gain in later life predict a high risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Those most at risk for this condition were those with mothers who were short and fathers who were overweight.
The researchers' conclusions resulted from tracking a representative sample of 7,000 people out of a total of 17,000, born in one week of March 1958, in England, Scotland and Wales.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
