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Babies born to healthy mothers similar size worldwide

The growth of babies in their womb and their size at birth are strikingly similar the world over when born to healthy, educated mothers, a landmark international study has found.

The study involved around 60,000 pregnancies in eight defined urban areas in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The researchers found the average body length of the baby of a healthy mother was 49.4 centimetres.

No more than 4% of the difference in fetal growth and birth size could be attributed to differences between the eight populations in the study, the researchers said.

Read more at Oxford University

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