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 October 1985 to September 1986. Setting: King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar. Material and methods: A total of 278 babies who were live births, singletons and preceded by a sibling birth was randomly selected for the study. The relative influence of certain sociodemographic, biological, genetic and medical correlates was analysed by multiple regression. Results: In the fully specified regression, increasing gestational and maternal age showed a significant advantage to birthweight. Babies born to consanguineous parents were on average 74 g lighter than those of non-consanguinous parents, but the results tailed to insignificance (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 consanguinity per se on fetal growth.