A new research shows that firstborn women are more prone to being overweight and obese.
As reported by CBS news, women who are considered to be the eldest among her siblings may be linked to excessive weights.
A group of researchers from New Zealand performed the study by assessing 99 percent of all women birth in Sweden starting from 1973. The study concentrated on women who gave birth from the year 1991 to 2009.
The samples were analyzed if they were at least 18 years old when they first had their pregnancy and if they were born by a mother of at least 18 years old. There were over 29,000 women involved in the study and 13,406 of them were considered as sisters.
In the study, each of the women were asked about information regarding their weight, height, health, lifestyle and family history. The results show that at birth, the firstborn women were initially lighter compared to their younger sisters. However, when both of them reached adulthood, it was discovered that first born women had a higher body mass index (BMI) of 2.4 percent than the second-born women.
The findings suggest that in adulthood, firstborn women were 20% more likely to be overweight and 40% more inclined to be obese compared to their younger sisters.
According to Professor Wayne Cutfield, the change in blood supply to the placenta between pregnancies are one of the reason why elder women are considered overweight. The change will considerably affect the nutrient supply, which could possibly lead to the reprogramming of fat and glucose regulation of the children.
Some also suggests that a greater factor can be linked to environmental issues. However, the study does not propose that a greater number of children in the family is one of the reason of obesity.
The researchers pointed out that they cannot draw definitive conclusions from their study. They also stated that further research varying different parameters should be conducted.
