World's tallest man becomes world's tallest father

London, October 5 : World's tallest man has become the world's tallest father after the birth of his first child, who is said to be on the middle ground between his colossal father and average-sized mother.

Bao Xishun's son, born on October 2, is only slightly taller than the average newborns measuring 22 inches (56 centimetres) long at birth, the senior doctor at Zunhua Hospital in Hebei province said.

The Chinese couple's son, who weighed 4.2 kilograms at birth with a touch heavier than average, fell short of the 29.5 inches (75 centimetres) claimed as a record birth length last year, also in China.

"Mr Bao is quite happy," Telegraph quoted the hospital's senior doctor Zhang as saying.

"The baby is healthy and a normal size," the doc added.

The 2.36 metres former herdsman, who married the 5-foot-6inches (1.68 metres) Xia Shujuan in contrast, had last year hoped that his child would be around 2 metres in length.

He said: "I hope he or she can be about 2 metres tall.

"Then he or she can play basketball."

Bao had temporarily lost his 'Guinness World Record' title to the Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk but regained it in August when Stadnyk refused to be measured under new guidelines.

The 57-year-old year has been hired for publicity stunts and his wedding last year was sponsored by at least 15 companies.

ANI