You think the opposite would be true.  People are smoking less, gaining more weight during pregnancy, and prenatal care is the best it’s been throughout human history.  All those things should lead to bigger, healthier infants, but no.  None of those factors are stopping the shrinking of American newborns.  Babies weigh less now than they did in 1990, and nobody knows why, thought diet and maternal exercise might have something to do with it.

Researchers lead by Emily Oken at Harvard Medical School are stumped by the 52-gram weight reduction.  In an otherwise healthy baby, that’s not so much of a problem, but in an underweight or premature infant, those extra grams of hardiness can mean the difference between life and death, as lower-weight infants have higher risks of diabetes and heart problems.

Tags: weird science, unusual health news, birth weight decreasing, American babies are getting smaller, health news, birth weights, Harvard Medical School, Emily Oken, baby health news, lighter babies

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