So 'how is babby formed' isn't a completely stupid question.

They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their wondering why people live longer too.

SharkTrager: They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their wondering why people live longer too.

Also, why are people taller than they used to be?

We can't bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where was I... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

SharkTrager: They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their they're wondering why people live longer too.

Contractions, how do they work?

Nurglitch: Contractions, how do they work?

A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters. In traditional grammar, contraction can denote the formation of a new word from one word or a group of words, for example, by elision. This often occurs in rendering a common sequence of words or, as in French, in maintaining a flowing sound.

Mystery solved

"The average size of mothers, however, has definitely risen in recent decades, as gauged by body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height.

Between 1930 and 1949, 18 per cent of mothers in the study had BMI's that qualified as 'obese,' while 48 per cent fell into that category between 1990 and 2008."

I'm not saying fat women have fat babies... but... well, lets just say there theirs no shortage of nutrients for the little bundle of joy.

Is there a chart correlating this with Leon? Because I'm pretty sure we've known this since 1980.

kiffer: Mystery solved

"The average size of mothers, however, has definitely risen in recent decades, as gauged by body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height.

Between 1930 and 1949, 18 per cent of mothers in the study had BMI's that qualified as 'obese,' while 48 per cent fell into that category between 1990 and 2008."

I'm not saying fat women have fat babies... but... well, lets just say there theirs no shortage of nutrients for the little bundle of joy.

True, but then you have england in the 1800s, where the larger a woman was, the more desirable she was. She was viewed as healthier. Zoftig.
I think it has less to do with the woman's weight and more do do with prenatal nutrition and supplements.

CSB time, my dad was 11lbs 6oz in 1954.
/my girls were 8lbs15oz, and 8lbs7oz.

Six-five, eh?

Your mom sounds fat.

Food of the Gods

women arent smoking or drinking nearly as much while they are pregnant these days...

Bigger, longer, and UNCUT.

mikefinch: women aren't smoking or drinking nearly as much while they are pregnant these days...

I think this is relevant, though the difference in women's obesity between back-in-the-day and now is significant (though not at all surprising). Of course that earlier (1930-49) period included the Depression, when many people were, uh, especially "lean."

/Midcentury child of (smoking) Ohio mom here; Farkers love to take shots at Ohio, but it is a real mean/median state in terms of urban/rural, north/south, east/west, income levels, etc.

kiffer: Mystery solved

"The average size of mothers, however, has definitely risen in recent decades, as gauged by body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height.

Between 1930 and 1949, 18 per cent of mothers in the study had BMI's that qualified as 'obese,' while 48 per cent fell into that category between 1990 and 2008."

I'm not saying fat women have fat babies... but... well, lets just say there theirs no shortage of nutrients for the little bundle of joy.

Sorta. Better nutrition accounted for some of the historical growth.

Now it's more likely gestational diabetes. Pump the fetus full of insulin and he'll grow like a prize pig.

Sadly these fatties most likely have plenty of calories in their diet but a dearth of vitamins.

Additionally due to shifts in access to education away from exclusively white males to include women and minorities the fact of the matter is that scientists are shrinking relative to the rest of the population. That will make the babies look larger than they really are.

My mother had tiny babbies. I was the biggest at 6 lbs. Then again, she smoked like a chimney and never gained more than 11 pounds with any of us.

I had big babbies - both close to 9 lbs. No diabeetus; I ate well and didn't smoke.

/not fat

//kids not fat

///anecdotal evidence is PROOF, dammit!

/low hanging fruit is still fruit.

PizzaJedi81: SharkTrager: They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their wondering why people live longer too.

Also, why are people taller than they used to be?

We can't bust heads like we used to. But we have our ways. One trick is to tell stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where was I... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

Anyway, long story short...is a phrase whose origins are complicated and rambling.

Earth's gravity is diminishing. We're evolving into giraffes.

Nuclear Monk: Earth's gravity is diminishing. We're evolving into giraffes.

That'll please my youngest daughter to no end.

She loves giraffes.

I don't understand why the scientists should be any different- most of us are mystified as babies.

Nuclear Monk: Earth's gravity is diminishing. We're evolving into giraffes.

It is as the ancient texts fortold:

In the year one million and a half
Human kind is enslaved by giraffe
Men must pay for all his misdeeds
When the tree tops are stripped off their leaves

My wife is 5'4"... I am 5'11"

We have a 3 year old and a 10 month old.

The elder was 95th percentile for height at birth and has stayed pegged at 95th to this day (shes about 39.5" tall, roughly the size of the average 5 year old).

The 10 month old is off the farking chart... doc said last visit she was 99th percentile but its hard to read the graph at that point.

We're not really sure why they are this way, but apparently my aunt grew much the same way until 7th grade when she just stopped forever at 5'6".


/hoping for 6'2" super models that pay for my retirement :-)

Nurglitch: SharkTrager: They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their they're wondering why people live longer too.

Contractions, how do they work?

Better than predictive text.

Ecliptic: /hoping for 6'2" super models that pay for my retirement :-)

They will totally hate you and you'll end up homeless.

SharkTrager: They are shocked that baby weights have gone up over the last 90 years?

Really?

I bet their wondering why people live longer too.

I think some of the more recent changes have to do with the fact that babies no longer get water. My niece has a 5-month-old baby. He has sinus issues, just like everyone else in our family. I told her to give him bottles of warm water because it helps with the congestion. She said her doctor says that babies are not supposed to drink water, only breast milk and formula. (new window) If a thirsty baby is always ingesting calories every time he drinks, he is going to get plump.

+1 subby!

It may also have to do with age of the mother. Increased maternal age is associated with higher birth weights, and people are waiting longer to have kids.

Vertdang:
I'm not saying fat women have fat babies... but... well, lets just say there theirs no shortage of nutrients for the little bundle of joy.

True, but then you have england in the 1800s, where the larger a woman was, the more desirable she was. She was viewed as healthier. Zoftig.
I think it has less to do with the woman's weight and more do do with prenatal nutrition and supplements.

CSB time, my dad was 11lbs 6oz in 1954.
/my girls were 8lbs15oz, and 8lbs7oz.


Yeah, I was being a bit facetious, just a little though... mostly I meant people are fat because food is cheap, more food, bigger babies.
The sort of large lady that was fashionable in England in the 1800s probably was not all that common, and probably was not as large as an low end obese person now.
More Rubenesque, less rolls of fat.