title: Social correlates of term small for gestational age babies in a Russian Arctic setting.
abstract: Small for gestational age (SGA) births have been associated with both short- and long-term adverse health outcomes. Although social risk factors for SGA births have been studied earlier, such data are limited from Northern Russia.
  
  
  
  We assessed maternal social risk factors for term SGA births based on data from the population-based Murmansk County Birth Registry (MCBR).
  
  
  
  Data on term live-born singleton infants born between 2006 and 2011 in Murmansk County were obtained from the MCBR. We applied the 10th percentile for only birth weight (SGAW) or for both birth weight and birth length (SGAWL). Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of independent variables on SGA males and females with adjustment for known risk factors and potential confounders. Both crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the studied risk factors were calculated.
  
  
  
  The proportions of term SGAWand SGAWLbirths were 9.7 and 4.1%, respectively. After adjustment for potential confounders, the risk of term SGA births among less educated, unemployed, unmarried, smoking and underweight women was higher compared with women from the reference groups. Evidence of alcohol abuse was also associated with birth of SGAWLand SGAWboys. Maternal overweight and obesity decreased the risk of SGA.
  
  
  
  Maternal low education, unemployment, unmarried status, smoking, evidence of alcohol abuse and underweight increased the risk of term SGA births in a Russian Arctic setting. This emphasizes the importance of both social and lifestyle factors for pregnancy outcomes. Public health efforts to reduce smoking, alcohol consumption and underweight of pregnant women may therefore promote a decrease in the prevalence of SGA births.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.|International School of Public Health, Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia; aus002@post.uit.no.
authors.forename: Anna A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Usynina
authors.affiliation: International School of Public Health, Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia.|Department of International Public Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Preventive Medicine, International Kazakh-Turkish University, Turkestan, Kazakhstan.|Department of Public Health, Hygiene and Bioethics, Institute of Medicine, North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Andrej M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Grjibovski
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.|Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jon Øyvind
authors.initials: JØ
authors.lastname: Odland
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.|Department of Biomedicine and Public Health, School of Health and Education, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.|Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krettek
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D008019:Life Style; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012426:Russia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Russia; SGA; birth registry; light for date; small for date