Heftier newborns are a growing trend, thanks mostly to better nutrition
By
Melissa Sim
While newborns tend to weigh about 3.2kg, Oxley Sun tipped the scales at 5kg. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
BLAME it on good food that babies are getting bigger.
It is a phenomenon seen here and in the developed world, such as in Britain, Canada and Australia, where better maternal nutrition, genetics and improved delivery techniques have delivered heftier bundles of joy into the arms of parents.
THREE MONTHS OLD?
'When the nurse pushed him into the room, she said my baby looked like he was three months old.'
On April 2, teacher Gladys Tay, 33, gave birth to her first child, Oxley Sun, who tipped the scales at 5kg when newborns tend to weigh around 3.2kg.
The father, Mr Sun Qin, 33, an actuarial assistant manager, said even their doctor was surprised, as he had expected the baby to be slightly over 4kg.
Added Madam Tay: 'When the nurse pushed him into the room, she said my baby looked like he was three months old.'
Dr Fong Chuan Wee said that Oxley, delivered by caesarean section at Gleneagles Hospital, was one of the biggest he has seen. In 30 years of practice, he has delivered only three or four newborns weighing 5kg or more.
Bigger babies are a growing phenomenon not just here. Dr Christopher Chong, from Chris Chong Women and Urogynae Clinic at Gleneagles Hospital, cited an Australian study which found that the proportion of large babies in Australia had increased by 18 per cent for boys and 21 per cent for girls from 1990 to 2005.
While there is no similar study here, Dr Devendra Kanagalingam, consultant of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Singapore General Hospital, said it was 'fair to say that the upper limit is probably creeping up'.
The normal range quoted by doctors here is 2.5kg to 4kg.
Much of the rise has to do with better nutrition. Everyone is eating more, said Dr Chong, and children are growing bigger.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
