Association of low birth weight with obesity, diabetes and maternal underweight

Authors

  • Carlos Llerena Gómez
  • Manuel Ezcurdia Barzaga

Keywords:

maternal obesity, maternal diabetes, low maternal weight, low birth weight, Chi-square of independence

Abstract

Introduction: Low birth weight is linked to various health complications for infants and mothers.

Objective: To associate maternal obesity, diabetes and low maternal weight with the risk of low birth weight in infants born in a clinic located in Ecuador.  

Methods: The study was retrospective, observational, analytical and cross-sectional. A total of 182 pregnant women from the Ecuador were studied. To analyze the relationship between the variables of interest, the Chi-square test of independence was used using IBM SPSS Statistics software (version 25.0).

Results: Maternal obesity was significantly associated with a higher risk of low birth weight (53.7 % vs. 46.3 % in mothers without obesity). Maternal diabetes did not show a significant association (50.5 % vs 49.5 %). Finally, low maternal weight showed a strong association with low birth weight (78.9 % vs 21.1 % in mothers without low birth weight). The null hypothesis is rejected for the variables maternal obesity and low maternal weight, since in both cases a statistically significant association with low birth weight was found (p<0.05). But, for the variable maternal diabetes the null hypothesis is not rejected, since no significant association was found with low birth weight (p>0.05).

Conclusions: The alternative hypothesis is partially fulfilled, confirming that maternal obesity and low maternal weight represent risk factors for low birth weight in this population.

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Published

2024-04-16

How to Cite

1.
Llerena Gómez C, Ezcurdia Barzaga M. Association of low birth weight with obesity, diabetes and maternal underweight. Rev Cubana Inv Bioméd [Internet]. 2024 Apr. 16 [cited 2025 Dec. 7];43. Available from: https://revibiomedica.sld.cu/index.php/ibi/article/view/3298