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Determinants of birthweight: gender based analysis

Samia Halileh1, Niveen Abu-Rmeileh, Graham Watt

  • 1Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University/Ramallah, PO Box 154, Ramallah, Occupied Palestinian Territory. Samia@birzeit.edu

Maternal and Child Health Journal
|May 9, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Birth weight is influenced by maternal factors like age, education, and birth order, with some effects varying by infant gender. These determinants highlight both universal biological influences and culture-specific social factors.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatal epidemiology
  • Maternal and child health
  • Human reproductive biology

Background:

  • Birth weight is a critical indicator of infant health and development.
  • Understanding determinants of birth weight is essential for public health interventions.
  • Socioeconomic and cultural factors may influence birth weight outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the determinants of birth weight in full-term infants.
  • To examine the association between birth weight and infant gender.
  • To analyze factors in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study design.
  • Stratified random sampling of households in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • Multivariable analysis using analysis of variance for mixed models.

Main Results:

  • Maternal age, education, birth order, and infant sex were significant determinants of birth weight.
  • Maternal education's effect on birth weight was more pronounced in female infants.
  • Birth order's impact on birth weight varied with maternal age.

Conclusions:

  • Birth weight is shaped by universal biological factors and culture-specific social, ethnic, and environmental influences.
  • Gender-specific effects on birth weight determinants were observed.
  • Findings underscore the interplay of biological and sociocultural factors in determining infant birth weight.

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