Father's weight could contribute to large babies in overweight and obese mothers with and without gestational diabetes

We evaluated whether there was an association between fathers’ nutritional status and children's birth weight (BW) considering weight-matched mothers with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In total, 86 trios of women, infants, and fathers were evaluated. BW was not different between the groups of obese and non-obese parents, frequency of maternal obesity, or GDM. The percentage of infants who were large for gestational age (LGA) was 25% in the obese group and 14% in the non-obese group (p = 0.44). There was a borderline significance for higher body mass index (p = 0.09) of the father in the LGA group compared with the adequate for gestational age group. These results corroborate the hypothesis that the father's weight can also be relevant for the occurrence of LGA.