[Correlation between somatic developmental status of newborn infants and some sociodemographic data]

Data obtained from 10,108 newborns of parents of gypsy native language delivered during 1973-1983 were compared to national population's data of 1978. When comparing the data of gypsy group which is living under very disadvantageous social, cultural and health conditions to the appropriate national data the following differences have been found. The physical development of gypsy infants included in this study is much more worse than that of the national average. For the poorer physical development of gypsy children the disadvantageous social and hygienic conditions together with low educational attainment is responsible rather than the different genetic background. This conclusion is proved by findings of the study that the trend of national data according to the educational attainment is very similar to that of the appropriate data of gypsy group.