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Health

27th Aug 2015

Study: First-born girls ‘more likely to be obese’

Big sisters beware

Katie Mythen-Lynch

If you’ve always suspected your little sister had it much easier than you did growing up, you might be about to be vindicated.

A new study has revealed that firstborn children are 40 per cent more likely to be obese than their younger siblings.

The 10-year study of 13,400 pairs of sisters revealed that firstborn women were 29 per cent more likely to be overweight and 40 per cent more likely to be obese than their slimmer younger siblings.

The research, from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Uppsala University in Sweden, backs up the findings of a similar, older study, which revealed that older brothers are more likely to be obese than younger members of the family.
While the causes are unclear, the extra weight carried by firstborn women puts them at a higher risk of suffering diabetes and high blood pressure later in life. Something to consider if you’re the biggest sister in more ways than one…