Abstract/Details

Birth weight and body weight: Correlates and association with morbidity and mortality in Bobo-Dioulasso

Gueye, Mouhamadou.   University of Pennsylvania ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1987. 8804906.

Abstract (summary)

This study investigates the correlates of body weight during the first two years of life in Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso). The associations between birth weight and the infant mortality pattern and the effect of birth weight and weight-for-age on mortality are also explored. Multivariate regression analysis and the Bourgeois-Pichat biometric analysis of mortality are used. An extension of the latter method is developed to relax the assumption of stability of the structure of exogenous mortality in order to study the physical growth as well as the mortality pattern of the children.

The exceptionally big difference in birth weight between first and second birth orders, as well as part of the seasonal variation, is attributed to malaria. The low mean birth weight of the premarital births is essentially due to birth order and not to any socioeconomic disadvantage of the unmarried mothers. Other important correlates of birth weight are the quality of water and prenatal care.

The nature of the relationship between measles mortality and birth weight is dependent on the age group considered. Measles mortality is negatively related to birth weight in the age group 6-8 months, and no longer related to birth weight after nine months. This result is attributed to the loss of antibodies against measles which occurs earlier among lighter infants.

Children in our sample are heavier at about three months than their American counterparts. We argue that this phenomenon is mainly due to catch-up growth following the slow growth of the fetus during the last few months of pregnancy. Our study fails to show that measles, diarrhea, fever, or malaria have a negative effect on subsequent physical growth. However, susceptibility to diarrhea is correlated with weight.

Birth weight is related to mortality up to the sixteenth month of life, but the relationship disappears once weight-for-age is considered. This last variable is even useful for middle term prognosis. Finally, an ancillary finding is that medical services have a dramatic effect on mortality.

Indexing (details)


Subject
Demographics;
Demography
Classification
0938: Demography
Identifier / keyword
Social sciences; Burkina@Faso
Title
Birth weight and body weight: Correlates and association with morbidity and mortality in Bobo-Dioulasso
Author
Gueye, Mouhamadou
Number of pages
232
Degree date
1987
School code
0175
Source
DAI-A 49/02, Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
ISBN
979-8-206-01744-1
Advisor
Walle, Etienne van de
University/institution
University of Pennsylvania
University location
United States -- Pennsylvania
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
8804906
ProQuest document ID
303482937
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/docview/303482937