Low birth weight in Bangladesh and associated maternal and socioeconomic factors: results from a recent nationally-representative survey
ObjectivesLittle is known about the relative contributions of maternal and socioeconomic factors on low birth weight in Bangladesh and whether they differ by sex. We examined the prevalence and associated maternal and socioeconomic factors of low birth weight separately among boys and girls. Design and settingsThis is a cross-sectional study based on the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014. ParticipantsA total of 4728 children with information on birth size were included in this study. Outcome measureLow birth weight was defined according to mothers perception of birth size of their children. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between maternal and socioeconomic factors with low birth weight. ResultsThe overall prevalence of low birth weight was 17.8% among boys and 22.4% among girls. Low birth weight was associated with maternal factors like maternal age of <20 years at birth (adjusted OR vs. 20-29 years: 1.40, 95% CI 1.09-1.78), and maternal undernutrition (adjusted OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.05-1.69) among boys while only the association with maternal undernutrition was significant among girls. The association for no antenatal care visit was explained by socioeconomic factors. Lower level of mothers education and poorest wealth index were found to be associated with low birth weight in both sexes. ConclusionOur study identifies that maternal factors are associated with increased risk of having low birth weight babies, which cannot be explained by socioeconomic factors, and vice versa. Community-based interventions to reduce low birth weight in Bangladesh should focus on these factors. Strengths and limitations of this studyO_LITo the best of our knowledge our study is the first study in Bangladesh that has looked at the factors for low birth weight separately among boys and girls. C_LIO_LIWe used multiple logistic regression to examine the associations of maternal and socioeconomic factors with low birth weight in a large and nationally-representative sample. C_LIO_LIThis study is limited because we used mothers perception of childs size at birth to define low birth weight. C_LIO_LIWe did not have information about gestational age and thereby could not take prematurity into account in our study. C_LI