Older siblings - especially brothers, can stunt growth!

Sibling rivalry gets pretty intense in some families. But there's a new source of conflict - the finding that older siblings stunt the growth of younger siblings!

According to this story on the BBC, the condition of the womb after the first pregnancy may be a factor. The finding is based on a study of 14,000 families by David Lawson, of University College London.

His research also showed children in larger families were likely to be shorter than average.

While having older siblings of either sex affected a younger child's development, the effect of older sisters was more mild. One explanation put forward is that boys are more demanding to raise, and so stretch the resources of parents more than daughters.

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