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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Spatial variations of low birthweight in Cape Town |
Authors: | Rip, Michael R. Keen, Cecil S. Woods, David L. |
Year: | 1987 |
Periodical: | Journal of Tropical Pediatrics |
Volume: | 33 |
Issue: | 6 |
Pages: | 333-336 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subject: | child development |
External link: | http://tropej.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/33/6/333 |
Abstract: | An infant's weight at birth, as well as the socioeconomic environment is recognized as constituting the major risk factors associated with infant death in the newborn period. The greatest risks of morbidity and mortality exist for those infants who are born with a low birth weight (less than 2500 g). This study spatially analyses low birth weight rates and socioeconomic status in Metropolitan Cape Town (South Africa) for the year 1982, in an attempt to assess the distribution of and relationship between these variables at the suburb (or community) level. Out of a total of 36,789 notified live births, 4321 live singleton deliveries were infants with a birth weight of less than 2500 g. Cape Town is characterized by an elevated low birth weight rate of 12.0 percent. The rate varies between suburbs from 1.1 to 21.0 percent. Spatial analysis has demonstrated that variations in the occurrence of low birth weight for each suburb were significantly correlated with variations in the distribution of socioeconomic status. Ref. |