PREDICTORS OF SAUDI BIRTH-WEIGHTS - A MULTIPLE-REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Objective: To examine the predictors of Saudi birthweights. Design: A cross-sectional study of Saudi babies born during the period from Octo ber 1985 to September 1986. Setting: King Fahd Hospital of the Univers ity, Al-Khobar. Material and methods: A total of 278 babies who were l ive births, singletons and preceded by a sibling birth was randomly se lected for the study. The relative influence of certain sociodemograph ic, biological, genetic and medical correlates was analysed by multipl e regression. Results: In the fully specified regression, increasing g estational and maternal age showed a significant advantage to birthwei ght. Babies born to consanguineous parents were on average 74 g lighte r than those of non-consanguinous parents, but the results tailed to i nsignificance (p = 0.09). The average weight of infants born within a year of sibling birth was lower by 132.7 g than that of babies born at 2-3 years' birth interval; the statistical association, however, was weak (p = 0.1). Socioeconomic circumstances had no significant effect on birthweight. Conclusion: The study provides a clue to the relative impact of some predictors for Saudi birthweights. Further explorations are required on the role of antenatal care, child spacing and consang uinity per se on fetal growth.