Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Changes in birth weight between 2002 and 2012 in Guangzhou, China
Yong Guo1, Yu Liu1, Jian-Rong He1
1Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China; Department of Health Care, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China.
Mean birth weight slightly decreased in Guangzhou between 2002 and 2012. This trend, alongside reductions in small (SGA) and large (LGA) for gestational age infants, suggests healthier birth weights overall.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal Health
- Public Health Surveillance
- Pediatric Growth
Background:
- Global trend of declining mean birth weight observed in developed nations.
- Guangzhou, China, a rapidly developing urban center, is experiencing similar shifts.
- Need to analyze birth weight trends in this specific population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in birth weight among singleton live births in Guangzhou from 2002 to 2012.
- To examine trends in small for gestational age (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) infants.
- To explore variations in birth weight changes across different gestational age groups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Guangzhou Perinatal Health Care and Delivery Surveillance System.
- Analyzed 34,108 singleton live births in 2002 and 54,575 in 2012.
- Assessed birth weight, SGA/LGA percentages, and gestational length, controlling for maternal and infant factors.
Main Results:
- Mean birth weight declined from 3162g (2002) to 3137g (2012), a crude difference of -25g.
- Adjusted mean birth weight showed a slight decrease of -6g after controlling for covariates.
- Percentages of SGA and LGA infants decreased by 0.6% and 1.5% respectively; mean gestational age dropped to 38.9 weeks.
Conclusions:
- A slight decrease in mean birth weight was observed in Guangzhou's local population between 2002 and 2012.
- Simultaneous reductions in SGA and LGA percentages suggest potential improvements in healthier weight for gestational age.
- Birth weight changes varied across gestational age groups, with a notable decrease in very preterm births.
More Related Videos
03:35Determining Gender-Based Differences in Retinal and Choroidal Thickness in Underweight Individuals via Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 1, 2023
06:39Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
Published on: June 13, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Population Growth
z Scores and Area Under the Curve
Regression Toward the Mean
Normal Distribution
Testing a Claim about Mean: Known Population SD
Estimating a population mean requires the samples to be distributed normally. The data should be collected from the randomly selected samples having no sampling bias. The sample size needed to be higher than 30, and most importantly, the population standard deviation should be already known.
In most realistic situations, the population standard deviation is often unknown, but in rare circumstances, when it...