Enormous, 13.6-Pound Baby Born In China

Weighing in at more than 13 pounds, a baby born recently in China may be one of the largest of 2013.

The enormous child, whose mother is a 27-year-old in Shanghai, tipped the scales at approximately 6.17 kilograms (13.6 pounds), reports Sky News.

The unidentified mother said she ate milk, eggs and lots of fruit every day while the baby was in utero and said she spent a lot of time on bed rest. While both mom and baby are currently healthy, a doctor told local Chinese media that the oversized baby may someday suffer from obesity or diabetes, per Sky News.

This newborn joins a cadre of similarly heavier-than-average children born to mothers around the world this year. While the typical U.S. newborn weighs around 7 pounds, 5 ounces, babies weighing nearly twice that were born this year in Germany, Spain and Utah.

The medical term for babies born weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces is "fetal macrosomia." In 2010, a study published in medical journal The Lancet concluded that maternal weight gain during pregnancy was tied to an increase in the infant's birthweight, regardless of any other genetic factors that have also been known to increase a baby's size.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest known baby weighed 23 pounds, 12 ounces and died shortly after its birth in Ohio on Jan. 19, 1879. To date, China's heaviest infant is believed to be Chun Chun, a 15.5-pound child born by caesarean section in Henan province in 2012.