Are Hong Kong babies getting bigger?
OBJECTIVE
To establish recent birth weight trends in Hong Kong.


METHODS
A total of 10,512 confinements for the years 1985-86, and 7857 for the years 1995-96 were analyzed.


RESULTS
There was a significant increase in maternal height, weight at booking, and maternal age, whereas the body-mass index was reduced slightly (P < 0.0001). Parity increased significantly, with the percentage of parous women rising from 44.1% to 55.6% (P < 0.0001). The percentage of female infants decreased from 49.5% to 47.9%. Despite these changes there was no significant difference in mean birth weights between the two groups. When birth weight was controlled for sex, parity, maternal height and weight there was a trivial increase of 15 g over time (P = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Birth weight has reached a plateau in Hong Kong despite a continuing increase in the regions' socioeconomic status, and evidence of improved nutritional well-being.
Brieger
G M
GM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Rogers
M S
MS
Rushton
A W
AW
Mongelli
M
M
D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012744:Sex Ratio; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors