Women's Health, Marital Status, Education May Affect Birth Weight Of Future Daughter

Did you know that certain social factors like education and marital status can affect the future birth weight of a woman's daughter, according to research based on two long-term studies that tracked mother-daughter pairs.

The two studies encompassed research from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, that tracked birth weights and pre-pregnancy physical and social health and social data of 1,580 mother-daughter pairs. The researchers specifically focused on birth weights, marital status and educational levels.

"The odds of having a low-birth-weight baby were one and a half to two times greater for mothers who themselves were born low birth weight compared to mothers who were not born low birth weight," Jennifer B. Kane, assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Irvine, said in a press release. "But also important are social factors, including education and marital status. Putting all of these factors - both intergenerational and intragenerational - together in a single model can tell us even more."

Typically, she said, only factors occurring during a woman's pregnancy are considered as risk factors for her baby. The new research shows that generational history can play as big a part in the health of a baby as what happens during gestation.

"We know that low-birth-weight babies are more susceptible to later physical and cognitive difficulties and that these difficulties can sharpen the social divide in the U.S.," Kane said. "But knowing more about what causes low birth weight can help alleviate the intergenerational perpetuation of social inequality through poor infant health."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Related Articles

Getting Your College Degree Before Marriage Helps Prevent Obesity

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).