title: Intergenerational birth weights among the direct female descendants of US-born and Mexican-born Mexican-American women in Illinois: an exploratory study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the intergenerational birth-weight patterns of the direct female descendants of Mexican-American women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a population-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Stratified analyses were performed on a transgenerational dataset of 1956-1975 and 1989-1991 Illinois computerized vital records of Mexican-American infants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the descendants of generation 1 US-born Mexican-American women (n=1,940), generation 3 females had a birth weight equivalent to that of their generation 2 mothers, (3294 g vs 3283 g); generation 3 infants with unmarried mothers had a birth weight 121 g less than that of generation 2 infants born to unmarried mothers (3163 g vs 3284 g, P<.01); and generation 3 female infants born to teenaged women had a birth weight 70 g less than that of their generation 2 mothers who were born to teenaged women (3178 g vs 3248 g, P<.01). Among the descendants of generation 1 Mexican-born women (n=1,017), generation 3 females had a birth weight equivalent to that of their generation 2 mothers (3335 g vs 3363 g); generation 3 infants with teenaged mothers had a birth weight 108 g less than that of generation 2 infants with teenaged mothers (3264 g vs 3372 g, P<.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An intergenerational rise in birth weight does not occur among the direct female descendants of Mexican-American women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60614, USA. jcollins@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Nathalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mendivil
authors.forename: Shou-Yien
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001719:Birth Certificates; D001724:Birth Weight; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D014798:Vital Statistics