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January 3, 1986, Vol 255, No. 1 >
ARTICLE | January 3, 1986

Birth Weight Among Women of Different Ethnic Groups FREE

Patricia H. Shiono, PhD; Mark A. Klebanoff, MD, MPH; Barry I. Graubard, MA; Heinz W. Berendes, MD, MHS; George G. Rhoads, MD, MPH
[+] Author Affiliations

Reprint requests to the Epidemiology and Biometry Research Program, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Landow Bldg 8B06, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Dr Shiono).


JAMA. 1986;255(1):48-52. doi:10.1001/jama.1986.03370010054024
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Differences in mean birth weight and low birth weight (<2.5 kg) are analyzed among Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and whites who were enrolled in the Northern California Kaiser-Permanente Birth Defects Study, a prospective study of 29,415 pregnancy outcomes. Large differences in birth weight among babies of different ethnic groups persist after controlling for the joint effects of maternal smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, sex of child, parity, length of prenatal care, and maternal weight-for-height percentile. Compared with whites, the relative mean differences in birth weight are estimated as —246 g for blacks, —210 g for Asians, —105 g for Hispanics, and —140 g for others. The low-birth-weight rates and crude odds ratios are 7.70% (2.17) for blacks; 5.57% (1.57) for Asians; 5.52% (1.55) for others; 4.00% (1.13) for Hispanics; and 3.55% (1.00) for whites. After controlling for the effects of 22 factors, the odds ratios for a low-birth-weight infant are 2.41 for blacks, 1.37 for Asians, 1.93 for others, and 1.25 for Hispanics. It is concluded that factors currently used to control for ethnic differences in birth weight are insufficient to explain the observed differences.

(JAMA 1986;255:48-52)

REFERENCES

1 +
Taffel S:  Characteristics of Asian Births: United States, 1980 . Monthly Vital Statistics Report 1984;;32( (suppl) ):1-16.
2 +
Ventura SJ:  Births of Hispanic parentage, 1979 . Monthly Vital Statistics Report 1982;; 31( (suppl) ):1-16.
3 +
Niswander KR, Gordon M: The Women and Their Pregnancies . Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 1972;.
4 +
SAS User's Guide . Cary, NC, SAS Institute Inc, 1982;.
5 +
Taffel S: Factors Associated With Low Birth Weight , publication (PHS) 80:1915. National Center for Health Statistics, 1980;, series 21, No. (37) .
6 +
Meyer MB, Jonas BC, Tonascia JA:  Perinatal events associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy . Am J Epidemiol 1976;;103:464-476.
7 +
Health Consequences of Smoking for Women: A Report to the Surgeon General . US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1980;, pp 191-205.
8 +
Mills JL, Graubard BI, Harley EE, et al:  Maternal alcohol consumption and birth weight . JAMA 1984;;252:1875-1879.
9 +
Rush D, Cassano P:  Relationship of cigarette smoking and social class to birth weight and perinatal mortality among all births in Britain . J Epidemiol Community Health 1970;; 37:249-258.
10 +
Drillien CM:  Social and economic factors affecting the incidence of premature births . J Obstet Gynecol Br Empire 1957;;64:161-184.
11 +
Klebanoff MA, Graubard BI, Kessel SS, et al:  Low birth weight across generations . JAMA 1984;;252:2423-2427.
12 +
Elder HA, Santamarina BAG, Smith S, et al:  The natural history of tetracycline on asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy . Am J Obstet Gynecol 1971;;111:441-462.
13 +
Harrison HR, Alexander ER, Weinstein L, et al:  Cervical Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma hominis infections in pregnancy . JAMA 1983;;250:1721-1727.
14 +
Newton RW, Hunt LP:  Psychosocial stress in pregnancy and its relation to low birth weight . Br Med J 1984;;288:1191-1194.
15 +
Habicht JP, Yarbrough C, Lechtig A, et al:  Relation of maternal supplementary feeding during pregnancy to birthweight and other sociobiological factors , in Winick M (ed): Proceedings of the Symposium on Nutritional and Fetal Development . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1974;, pp 127-146.
16 +
Mora JO, de Paredes B, Wagner M, et al:  Nutritional supplementation and the outcome of pregnancy: I. Birthweight . Am J Clin Nutr 1979;;32:455-462.
17 +
Health, United States, 1983 , publication (PHS) 84-1232. National Center for Health Statistics, 1983;.

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Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

1 +
Taffel S:  Characteristics of Asian Births: United States, 1980 . Monthly Vital Statistics Report 1984;;32( (suppl) ):1-16.
2 +
Ventura SJ:  Births of Hispanic parentage, 1979 . Monthly Vital Statistics Report 1982;; 31( (suppl) ):1-16.
3 +
Niswander KR, Gordon M: The Women and Their Pregnancies . Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 1972;.
4 +
SAS User's Guide . Cary, NC, SAS Institute Inc, 1982;.
5 +
Taffel S: Factors Associated With Low Birth Weight , publication (PHS) 80:1915. National Center for Health Statistics, 1980;, series 21, No. (37) .
6 +
Meyer MB, Jonas BC, Tonascia JA:  Perinatal events associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy . Am J Epidemiol 1976;;103:464-476.
7 +
Health Consequences of Smoking for Women: A Report to the Surgeon General . US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1980;, pp 191-205.
8 +
Mills JL, Graubard BI, Harley EE, et al:  Maternal alcohol consumption and birth weight . JAMA 1984;;252:1875-1879.
9 +
Rush D, Cassano P:  Relationship of cigarette smoking and social class to birth weight and perinatal mortality among all births in Britain . J Epidemiol Community Health 1970;; 37:249-258.
10 +
Drillien CM:  Social and economic factors affecting the incidence of premature births . J Obstet Gynecol Br Empire 1957;;64:161-184.
11 +
Klebanoff MA, Graubard BI, Kessel SS, et al:  Low birth weight across generations . JAMA 1984;;252:2423-2427.
12 +
Elder HA, Santamarina BAG, Smith S, et al:  The natural history of tetracycline on asymptomatic bacteriuria during pregnancy . Am J Obstet Gynecol 1971;;111:441-462.
13 +
Harrison HR, Alexander ER, Weinstein L, et al:  Cervical Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma hominis infections in pregnancy . JAMA 1983;;250:1721-1727.
14 +
Newton RW, Hunt LP:  Psychosocial stress in pregnancy and its relation to low birth weight . Br Med J 1984;;288:1191-1194.
15 +
Habicht JP, Yarbrough C, Lechtig A, et al:  Relation of maternal supplementary feeding during pregnancy to birthweight and other sociobiological factors , in Winick M (ed): Proceedings of the Symposium on Nutritional and Fetal Development . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1974;, pp 127-146.
16 +
Mora JO, de Paredes B, Wagner M, et al:  Nutritional supplementation and the outcome of pregnancy: I. Birthweight . Am J Clin Nutr 1979;;32:455-462.
17 +
Health, United States, 1983 , publication (PHS) 84-1232. National Center for Health Statistics, 1983;.

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