Birthweight outcomes in Bolivia: the role of maternal height, ethnicity, and behavior

Economics and Human Biology
Marcelo Delajara, Florian Wendelspiess Chávez Juárez

Abstract

We identify maternal behavioral factors associated with birthweight in Bolivia using data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2003. We estimate birthweight as a function of maternal behavior and the child's sex and gestational age. We control for maternal height, ethnicity, education, and wealth, and for differences observed across Bolivian regions in educational and health outcomes, demographic indicators, and altitude. We find that maternal age, fertility record, and birth spacing behavior are the main observable behavioral factors associated with birthweight, and that maternal height is associated with gestational age, a main determinant of birthweight. We also find that after controlling for gestational age, both ethnicity and altitude have an insignificant effect on birthweight.

References

Aug 1, 1992·The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society·D J Barker
Nov 1, 1996·European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology·A K al-MomenM Abbas
Jul 29, 1998·Clinical Science·D J Barker
Aug 3, 2001·Pediatrics·M S KramerUNKNOWN Fetal/Infant Health Study Group of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System
Jan 24, 2003·International Journal of Epidemiology·D J P BarkerC Osmond
Oct 7, 2004·Economics and Human Biology·T J Cole
Dec 4, 2004·Economics and Human Biology·Rolando MoralesAlvaro Calzadilla
Dec 9, 2008·Economics and Human Biology·George L WehbyRobert L Ohsfeldt
Jul 3, 2010·Economics and Human Biology·George L WehbyJorge Lopez-Camelo

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anemia

Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.