Authors : Meghali Joharapurkar and Rekha Sharma
Page Nos : 244-246
Description :
Anthropometric indicators may be reflective of past events, predictive of future events, or indicative of current nutritional status. To determine the relationship between maternal anthropometric measurements and birth weight of new born, 215 pregnant women in the last trimester were selected from Government Hospitals of Nagpur City. A structured questionnaire was developed which consisted of questions related to demographic and socioeconomic profile and anthropometric measurements. Interview cum questionnaire method was used for eliciting information. The maternal anthropometry viz., height, weight and mid arm circumference were recorded as per standard methods. The birth weight was taken from the hospital records. The results of the study showed that the maternal anthropometric measurements of mothers viz., height (r = 0.232, p < 0.01), pre-pregnancy weight (r = 0.342, p < 0.01), last trimester weight (r = 0.454 , p < 0.01), gain in weight (r = 0.427 , p < 0.01), mid upper arm circumference (r = 0.471 , p < 0.01) and Body Mass Index (r = 0.246, p < 0.01) had positive and significant correlations with birth weight of infants.
Keywords :Pregnancy, Birth weight, maternal anthropometry, pre-pregnancy weight, Body Mass Index.
