| Abstract: | The relationship between parental social position and birthweight is being studied. A total population of 102,638 singleborn, first-born infants was included in the study. Census informationfrom 1980 was linked to the Medical Birth Registry for the years1978-1982. Children of parents with a high education (more than15 years) had the highest birth weight. The association wasdistinct and linear between low birth weight and education.The same tendency appeared for paternal socio-economic status,but differences were comparatively small. When examining incomethe pattern was different. The highest maternal income grouphad the highest proportion of low birth weight offspring. Whenexamining parental education jointly, it was found that themothers' education had the greatest impact on birth weight.By adjusting for female smoking, using survey data, the associationbetween maternal education and birth weight was weakened. However,assuming that birth weight is decreased by 200 g from smoking,the effect was still significant. |
