Maternal risk factor for low birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation in a Guatemalan population

Abstract

Hospital data on 306 mother-infant pairs in Cobán, Guatemala, were studied to assess factors responsible for low infant birth weights involving the two general kinds of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), these being Type I (symmetric stunting) and type II (asymmetric stunting or wasting). The results indicate that the Type I IUGR observed arose primarily from long-term poverty, malnutrition, and chronic poor living conditions, while much of the Type II IUGR seemed attributable to maternal disorders affected by short interbirth intervals

Available in spanish in Bol. Oficina Sanit. Panam 110(2)