Children with fat fathers at risk of obesity: Australian study

SYDNEY. November 11. KAZINFORM Children with fat fathers are more likely to be obese by age of eight or nine than those with healthy weight fathers, a new study by researchers at Australia's University of Newcastle found on Thursday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Researchers at the University of Newcastle found that children who had an overweight or obese dad were four times more likely to follow in their father's footsteps than those with a dad in the healthy weight range.

They also found in the study that only having an obese or overweight mum in the family did not have the same effect.

Lead researcher Emily Freeman said it was still unknown why overweight dads had such a significant effect on their children's weights.

The researchers conducted their study using data collected from 3000 Australian families between 2004 and 2008 for a longitudinal study; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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