| Literature DB >> 30158218 |
Zhifei He1, Ghose Bishwajit2, Sanni Yaya2, Zhaohui Cheng3, Dongsheng Zou1, Yan Zhou1.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of low birth weight (LBW), and to investigate the association between maternal body weight measured in terms of body mass index (BMI) and birth weight in selected countries in Africa.Entities:
Keywords: Sub-saharan Africa; body mass index; low birth weight; maternal underweight; neonatal mortality
Mesh:
Year: 2018 PMID: 30158218 PMCID: PMC6119454 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020410
Source DB: PubMed Journal: BMJ Open ISSN: 2044-6055 Impact factor: 2.692
Description of the surveys for the countries included in the study
| Country | Survey round | Implementing body | Year | Sample |
| Burkina Faso | VI | Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie. | May 2010–January 2011. | 17 087 (98.4) |
| Ghana | VII | Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana Health Service. | January–March 2014. | 9396 (97.3) |
| Malawi | VI | National Statistical Office of Malawi. | June–November 2010. | 23 020 (96.9) |
| Senegal | VI | Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de la Démographie. | 2010–2011. | 15 688 (92.7) |
| Uganda | VI | Uganda Bureau of Statistics. | June–December 2011. | 8674 (93.8) |
Figure 1Percentage of LBW babies in individual countries stratified by region. The figure illustrates the per cent distribution of LBW babies between urban and rural regions in the individual countries. It shows that the prevalence of LBW was higher in rural areas in all countries. Regional difference in LBW prevalence was most noteworthy for Senegal. LBW, low birth weight.
Distribution of low birthweight babies across maternal socioeconomic and BMI status
| Variables | Burkina Faso (13.4%) | Ghana (10.2%) | Malawi (12.1%) | Senegal (15.7%) | Uganda (10%) |
| Age | |||||
| <35 | 399 (79.6) | 108 (79.4) | 296 (78.7) | 60 (22.9) | 24 (15.4) |
| 35+ | 102 (20.4) | 28 (20.6) | 80 (21.3) | 201 (77.1) | 132 (84.6) |
| P values | 0.025 | 0.016 | 0.124 | 0.030 | 0.001 |
| Region | |||||
| Urban | 156 (31.1) | 66 (48.5) | 53 (14.1) | 121 (46.4) | 70 (44.9) |
| Rural | 345 (68.9) | 70 (51.5) | 323 (85.9) | 140 (53.6) | 86 (55.1) |
| P values | 0.479 | 0.360 | 0.356 | 0.000 | 0.003 |
| Education | |||||
| Nil | 391 (78.0) | 30 (22.1) | 59 (15.7) | 178 (68.2) | 21 (13.5) |
| Primary | 72 (14.4) | 27 (19.8) | 261 (69.4) | 58 (22.2) | 75 (48.1) |
| Secondary/Higher | 38 (7.6) | 79 (58.1) | 56 (14.9) | 25 (9.6) | 60 (38.5) |
| P values | 0.179 | 0.158 | 0.024 | 0.000 | 0.013 |
| Wealth index | |||||
| Richest | 66 (13.2) | 20 (14.7) | 55 (14.6) | 37 (14.2) | 34 (21.8) |
| Richer | 81 (16.2) | 18 (13.2) | 81 (21.5) | 54 (20.7) | 15 (9.6) |
| Middle | 119 (23.8) | 24 (17.6) | 82 (21.8) | 59 (22.6) | 19 (12.2) |
| Poorer | 127 (25.3) | 34 (25.0) | 83 (22.1) | 48 (18.4) | 34 (21.8) |
| Poorest | 108 (21.6) | 40 (29.4) | 75 (19.9) | 63 (24.1) | 54 (34.6) |
| P values | 0.168 | 0.041 | 0.149 | 0.209 | 0.027 |
| Parity | |||||
| <3 | 233 (46.5) | 62 (45.6) | 167 (44.4) | 113 (43.3) | 62 (39.8) |
| ≥3 | 268 (53.5) | 74 (54.4) | 209 (55.6) | 148 (56.7) | 94 (60.2) |
| P values | 0.001 | 0.04 | 0.021 | 0.253 | 0.385 |
| Antenatal care | |||||
| <4 | 300 (59.9) | 13 (9.6) | 221 (58.8) | 69 (26.4) | 71 (45.5) |
| ≥4 | 201 (40.1) | 123 (90.4) | 155 (41.2) | 192 (73.6) | 85 (54.5) |
| P values | 0.136 | 0.123 | 0.015 | 0.113 | 0.000 |
| Last pregnancy intended | |||||
| Yes | 54 (10.8) | 35 (25.7) | 177 (47.1) | 159 (61.9) | 77 (49.4) |
| No | 447 (89.2) | 101 (74.3) | 199 (52.9) | 102 (39.1) | 79 (50.6) |
| P values | 0.251 | 0.139 | 0.173 | 0.000 | |
| BMI | |||||
| Underweight | 68 (13.6) | 49 (36.0) | 56 (14.9) | 56 (21.5) | 30 (19.2) |
| Overweight/Obese | 49 (9.8) | 7 (5.1) | 31 (8.2) | 24 (9.2) | 11 (7.1) |
| Normal weight | 384 (76.6) | 80 (58.9) | 289 (76.9) | 181 (69.3) | 115 (73.7) |
| P values | 0.018 | 0.04 | 0.000 | 0.019 | 0.116 |
P value from χ2 test.
All percentages are in brackets.
BMI, body mass index.
Association (crude) between maternal body mass index and low birth weight, in selected countries in Africa
| Burkina Faso | Ghana | Malawi | Senegal | Uganda | |
| Birth weight, normal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Underweight | 1.298 (0.977 to 1.724) | 1.026 (0.460 to 2.286) | 1.454 (0.948 to 2.230) | 1.909 (1.242 to 2.933) | 1.501 (0.652 to 3.457) |
| Overweight | 0.870 (0.629 to 1.203) | 0.763 (0.522 to 1.116) | 0.972 (0.593 to 1.154) | 1.048 (0.753 to 1.457) | 1.156 (0.602 to 1.854) |
Reference category is normal birth weight. 95% CI shown in parentheses.
Association (adjusted) between maternal body mass index and low birth weight in selected countries in Africa
| Burkina Faso | Ghana | Malawi | Senegal | Uganda | |
| Birth weight, normal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Underweight | 1.304 (0.974 to 1.745) | 1.030 (0.453 to 2.342) | 1.449 (0.936 to 2.242) | 1.961 (1.259 to 3.055) | 1.363 (0.587 to 3.169) |
| Overweight | 0.933 (0.676 to 1.343) | 0.780 (0.533 to 1.141) | 0.998 (0.638 to 1.265) | 1.088 (0.774 to 1.530) | 1.065 (0.526 to 1.129) |
Regression model adjusted for all the sociodemographic variables, which showed significant association, p<0.25 in cross-tabs.
Basic sociodemographic characteristics of the study sample by country
| Variables | Burkina Faso (n=3743) | Ghana (n=1338) | Malawi (n=3113) | Senegal (n=1665) | Uganda (n=1559) |
| Age, mean (SD) | 29.09 (7.1) | 30.34 (6.63) | 28.1 (6.86) | 28.93 (9.21) | 28.78 (7.08) |
| Region | |||||
| Urban | 30.9 | 46.4 | 13.2 | 42.9 | 18.8 |
| Rural | 69.1 | 53.6 | 86.8 | 57.1 | 81.2 |
| Education | |||||
| Nil | 75.7 | 24.9 | 12.3 | 62.2 | 16.3 |
| Primary | 15.4 | 18.5 | 67.9 | 25.8 | 58.9 |
| Secondary/Higher | 8.8 | 56.6 | 19.8 | 12.1 | 24.8 |
| Wealth index | |||||
| Poorest | 13.7 | 23.2 | 17.3 | 23.5 | 23.9 |
| Poorer | 17.1 | 16.6 | 19.7 | 24.6 | 18.9 |
| Middle | 20.8 | 21.4 | 22.3 | 20.2 | 16.5 |
| Richer | 24.4 | 19.7 | 21.7 | 18.2 | 17.0 |
| Richest | 24.1 | 19.1 | 19.0 | 13.5 | 23.7 |
| Parity | |||||
| <3 | 37.8 | 52.7 | 61.0 | 45.2 | 53.7 |
| ≥3 | 62.2 | 47.3 | 39.0 | 54.8 | 46.3 |
| Antenatal care | |||||
| <4 | 59.9 | 6.7 | 52.8 | 27.6 | 47.7 |
| ≥4 | 40.1 | 93.3 | 47.2 | 72.4 | 52.3 |
| Last pregnancy intended | |||||
| Yes | 89.3 | 28.6 | 46.0 | 61.0 | 45.2 |
| No | 10.7 | 71.4 | 54.0 | 39.0 | 54.8 |
| Body mass index | |||||
| Underweight | 11.0 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 16.1 | 10.2 |
| Overweight/Obese | 11.3 | 41.9 | 17.6 | 21.5 | 19.4 |
| Normal weight | 77.7 | 53.7 | 76.5 | 62.4 | 70.4 |
Except for age, the numbers represent percentages.