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NUCCA News - Male diabetes affects birth weight of offspring: report
http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s757353.htm Children born to men who have diabetes are likely to weigh less than other babies, according to a study to be published on Saturday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The offspring of fathers with diabetes weigh on average 186 grams less than other children and the father's height or social class cannot explain this significant difference. In contrast, women who have diabetes are likelier to give birth to a baby whose weight is above average. Author George Davey Smith, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Bristol, said: "Diabetes in fathers and the birthweight of their offspring are strongly associated." "Our findings support the hypothesis that common genetic factors contribute both to the risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes and decreased pre-natal growth." The research is based on interviews with a large group of people who were born in Britain in 1958 and whose health was evaluated four decades later. More than 8,000 of the follow-up respondents were parents, 34 of whom were men with diabetes and 24 of whom were women who had become diabetic since childbirth. |
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