Tesfaye Getachew Charkos*, Hunde Lemi
Background: Epidemiological studies examining the impacts of maternal age and body mass index on the birth weight of a newborn is still sparse. We aimed to investigate the relationship between maternal age and body mass index with birth.
Methods: This cross-sectional study identified females aged 15 to 49 years with complete and valid data on the maternal age, maternal body mass index, and birth weight of newborns from the Ethiopian demographic and health survey 2016. Linear regression and Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) were used in this study.
Results: A total of 2110 females were included, with the average of BW, LBW, and macrosomia were 3280 g, 1920 g, and 4880 g respectively. After adjusting all covariates, we found that a one-year increment of maternal age was associated with 6.375 g increases in the birth weight of the newborn. Similarly, maternal BMI was positively and negatively associated with birth weight (β=0.323, P<0.001) and macrosomia (β=-0.041, P<0.05) respectively. There also approximately a linear relationship was found between maternal age and BMI with birth weight in the generalized additive model.
Conclusion: These findings confirm that a maternal age and body mass index have positive and linear relationship with birth weight of newborn. Similarly, the body mass index of the mothers has a direct impact on the macrosomia.
Published Date: 2025-01-28; Received Date: 2023-09-03
