REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN LOW BIRTH WEIGHT IN SPAIN: BIOLOGICAL, DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIOECONOMIC VARIABLES

VICENTE FUSTER, PILAR ZULUAGA, SONIA COLANTONIO AND J. ROMÁN-BUSTO

JOURNAL OF BIOSOCIAL SCIENCE

Cambridge University Press

Año: 2014 vol. 46 p. 1 - 15

0021-9320

Summary. The geographic and demographic dimensions of Spain, in terms ofsurface and number of inhabitants, and its heterogeneous socioeconomic developmentoffer an adequate opportunity to study the provincial differences in birthweight from 1996 to 2010, focusing on possible factors determining the relativefrequency of low birth weight. The study analysed geographic differences withregard to biological, demographic and socioeconomic factors that interferewith the female reproductive pattern. The variables considered here were: birthorder, proportion of premature deliveries, mother?s age, multiparity, mother?scountry of origin and professional qualifications. Two periods (1996?2000 and2006?2010) were compared by means of principal components analysis. An increasein the relative frequency of deliveries weighing less than 2500 g occurredin most of the 52 geographic units studied, differences being significant in 42.Only in five cases was there a non-significant reduction in the proportion oflow weight births. The first component after principal component analysis indicatedthat low birth weight was positively related to maternal age and to multipledeliveries, and negatively to the mother?s low professional qualification. Thesecond component related positively to the incidence of premature deliveriesand to non-Spanish status and negatively in the case of primiparous mothers.The progressive increase in low birth weight incidence observed in Spain from1996 onwards has occurred with considerable variation in each province. Inpart, this diversity can be attributed to the unequal reproductive patterns ofimmigrant mothers.