BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

Chapter III
Birth Weight
One of the intriguing findings of the In- in mortality in infants, such data have tile
vestigation in regard to neonatal mortality greatest significance.
was the unusually high proportion of deaths Weight at birth is dependent on the length
of infants of low birth weight. The per- of gestation. Also there is some evidence
centages of those (lying in the neonatal that birth weights vary in different ethnic
period with birth weights of 2,500 grams or groups. There is a distinct possibility that
less were surprisingly high, and the per- nutritional status of the mother affects the
eentages in the higher weight groups of growth and development of the fetus and
2,501 grams or more were much lower than thus the birth weight. In a research prothose
found in the United States in 1950 gram underway in the Institute of Nutri­
(Shapiro and Unger, 1965) and in the 1958 tion of Central America and Panama
British Perinatal Mortality Survey (Butler (INCAP) the provision of additional food
and Bonham, 1963).
(20,000 calories or more during pregnancy)
Clearly, comlpleteness of registration of to pregnant women in two villages in Guadeaths
of low-birth-weight infants is the temala resulted in an increase of mean birth
first and most important factor to be considered
in evaluating the findings. The reshowed
a change il et al., 1972). Such an increase was not obport
of Chase (1969.)
withIserved in infants in two neighboring villages
the United States from 1950 to 1960,
the percentage of infants dying in the neo- in which no additions were made to the pregnatal
period with birth weights of 2,500 nant women's diets.
grams or less increasing from 64.0 to 72.7 Birch (1972)-in his recent review of
in that interval. No doubt registration of progress in the field of malnutrition, learnthe
low-birth-weight babies had improved ing, and intelligence-comments on the reand
mortality declined, especially in those lation of the mother's nutritional status to
of higher birth weights.
tile growth and development of her child
To evaluate mortality by birth weight, it and states in a concluding paragraph: "We
is essential to establish the denominators, have also pointed to intergenerational
that is, live births by weight at birth. U1n- effects of nutrition upon mental developfortunately,
the distributions of live births mnent. The association between the mother's
by birth weight are rarely collected and growth acl .venients and the risk to her
published for a city or country. Yet f(-' infant is very strong. Poor nutrition and
understanding and interpreting differenceb poor health in the mother when she was a
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