Factors affecting birthweights in Hindus, Moslems and Europeans

Abstract

The birthweights of 664 Hindu and 132 Moslem babies were compared with those of 486 European babies born at the same hospital. The mean birthweight of the Europeans was 3362 g, compared with 3146 g for the Moslems and 2960 g for the Hindus. The Asian women were smaller than the European and tended to have a shorter length of gestation. Forty-four per cent of the Asians and 46% of the European mothers were of social classes I and II; 28% of the Europeans and 2% of the Asians smoked. There were no significant differences between Asians and Europeans in the effects of maternal size, parity, gestational age and fetal sex on birthweight. After adjustment for these variables and for cigarette smoking there was no significant difference in birthweight between the Moslems and the Europeans, but the mean birthweight of the Hindus was about 190 g lighter than that of the Europeans. Hindus from East Africa had lighter babies than those from India.

PIP: This study compared the birthweights of infants born to women of Hindu, Moslem, and European origin in a relatively affluent area of UK and examined the relationship between birthweight and other factors. The mean birthweight of the European infants was 3362 gm compared with 3146 gm for Moslems and 1960 gm for Hindus. The 796 Asian mothers were significantly smaller than the 486 European mothers and tended to have a shorter length of gestation. 42% of the variance was explained by the factors gestational age, maternal weight, maternal height, fetal sex, parity, and smoking. When birthweight was adjusted for all variables except smoking, the Moslem mean adjusted birthweight (3199 gm) was similar to that for Europeans (3192 gm), but the Hindu infants were significantly lighter (3074 gm). When smoking was included in the adjustment, the mean birthweight was 3234 gm for Europeans, 3191 gm for Moslems, and 3045 gm for Hindus. (28% of the European mothers and 2% of the Asian mothers smoked.) There awas no consistent relationship between birthweight and social class in the Asians, but there was a significant trend for Europeans in lower social classes to have smaller infants. Infants born to Hindu mothers from India were significantly heavier than those born to East Africans. It is unclear whether the approximately 190 gm lighter birthweight of Hindu infants compared with European infants is physiological or pathological. Further investigation of pregnancy outcome among ethnic and religious subgropus of the Asian population in the UK, as well as comparisons with the indigenous European population, are recommended to increase understanding of the factors that determine birthweights.