Iceland’s overweight baby issue
Icelandic babies are more than 100 times more likely to be born overweight than British babies. Photo: Rax
The relatively high incidence of overweight babies in Iceland is causing some concern in medical circles.
A new-born baby is defined as ‘overweight’ if their birth weight exceeds 4.5 kg (approx. 10 lb). Just over 1,400 overweight babies were born in the United Kingdom (UK) in the period 2011-14. Despite have a population some 200 times smaller than the UK, Iceland’s figure for the same period is 842.
Icelandic babies are therefore more than 100 times more likely to be born overweight than British babies.
“Icelandic mothers generally give births to big babies,” explains Snorri Einarsson, obstetrician and gynaecologist at the ART Medica fertility clinic. “The Icelanders are a big and heavy people […]. 20% of Icelanders are obese, as compared to around 12% in other Nordic countries.”
“While children of overweight women are not necessarily fatter that other children, they often have fatter bellies and display a type of fat distribution that is not ideal,” he explains.
Einarsson will be taking part in a conference on fertility organised by the Nordic Fertility Society and taking place in Reykjavik on 3-5 August. The link between obesity and male and female fertility will be discussed at the event.
