Anthropometric determinants of low birth weight in newborns of
Hoshiarpur district (Punjab) - A hospital based study
Introduction
The research took place in four private hospitals of Hoshirarpur district of India. The
scientist did research on 504 mothers between the ages of 20-35 for low birth weight of newborn
babies. Low birth weight (LBW) considered a very critical situation for a new born to survive.
15.5% of all infants born worldwide, around 20 million, are born underweight. The vast majority
of infants, 95.6%, are born in developing countries. The report has shown that one third of
neonatal are born with low birth weight. 82% of neonatal die almost every year in India, the
highest death rate of neonatal in the world. Newborns that have LBW can also have long term
disabilities such as retardation, hearing and vision impairments, cerebral palsy, and other
development issues.
Scientist chose the subject of LBW because they want to find out what causes the illness
or weakness of babies so that they can prevent it from happening in future births. Low birth
weight is a very sensitive subject for parents and by doing this research it will decrease the
mortality rate and will increase the likelihood of the newborn survival. Scientists have done
research to investigate the best surrogate anthropometric measurement to determine low birth
weight in newborns among institute deliveries in the district of Hoshiarpur.
The information that the researchers gathered was size of newborns, weight, and height to
help determine what causes low birth weight. It is very important in developing countries
especially north India and health care workers to identify the low birth weight to help prevent the
risk of losing a child. The hypothesis examines what is needed in order to reduce neonatal risks
such as death and injury in the early identification process.
Material and methods
The experiment gathered information from 2009 to 2010 of 504 first time pregnant
women that were in their last trimester and compared them with women that have had multiple
pregnancies. The researchers separated the women that were diagnosed with diabetes, heart
decease, thyroid disease, and hypertension from the women who were healthy in the age range of
20-35. All the pregnant women were monitored closely in the hospital in their last trimester.
After the babies were born within 48 hour the measurements were taken. If the baby’s weight
was less than 2.5 lbs they are labeled as low birth weight. All newborns were measure from head
to toes. “Height and weight measured to the nearest 0.1cm and 0.2 kg respectively.
Circumference measures namely crown heel length, mid-upper arm, head, chest, thigh, calf, and
abdominal were made to nearest 0.1 cm. Skinfold thicknesses at biceps, triceps, subscapular and
thigh were taken to the nearest 0.2 mm”( Kaur and Bansal 20012).
The data was collected by using t-test and Chi-square. “Single Variable linear regression
analysis was used to find out cut-off values of various anthropometric measurements. Sensitivity
analysis of anthropometric parameters was done to identify best surrogate measurement.”( Kaur
and Bansal 2012).
Result
The result found that there were 20.23 percent of the total babies that were low birth
weight. There were 56.86% males and 43.14% were female among newborn low birth weight.
Normal weight newborns were 53.23% males and 43.14% females. Male newborns had higher
percentage birth weight than female newborns but the sex of the newborn is not taken into
consideration in the study. After looking into the case from 2009-2010 of measuring newborn’s
crown heel length, head circumference, chest, mid arm, abdominal, thigh, calf, subscapular
skinfold, biceps, triceps, thigh skinfold, and R-square the research had determined that mid arm
circumference appeared to be best surrogate measurement to identify low birth weight followed
by chest circumference.
Discussion
The result of anthropometric means that low birth weight is very high in India and it
contributes to neonatal mortality. The scientist compared the percentage of newborn with low
birth weight in India to other countries like Nepal and Tanzania. India has 30% of low birth
weight; Nepal has 8.5%, and Tanzania has 18% decreased to 8%. The study found this result was
based on the population, genetics, environment they live in, and the food that the mother has
consumed. Since India has such a high population, poverty is increased and low birth weight is
common. Golalipour et al. 2003 stated, “Anthropometric studies of the newborn helps to evaluate
the maturity status of the baby and identifies the relationship between health and disease” (Kaur
and Bansal, 2012).
Bibliography
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