Abstract
BackgroundLow birth weight is one of the most important public health issues in developing and developed countries and identifying its etiology is important for prevention.ObjectivesConsidering the unknown impact of physical activity on low birth weight, this research was conducted to investigate the relationship between physical activity and low birth weight.Patients and MethodsThis research was conducted using a case-control design. The control group was made of 500 women with normal birth weight infants and the case group included 250 women with low birth weight infants from the selected hospitals in city of Tehran. The information was gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire which was prepared for determining the relationship between mothers’ lifestyle during pregnancy and infants' low birth weight using social determinants of health approach. In this questionnaire, scope of physical activity was investigated in three groups of athletic activities, activities at home and leisure activities. Activity intensity was determined using MET scale and the data were analyzed in SPSS software using independent t-test, Chi-square and logistic regression.ResultsIn the present research, based on the results of multiple logistic regression test, an increase in the time spent on sport activities (OR = 2.20) and home activities (OR =1.44) (P = 0.003) was accompanied by increased chance of giving birth to low birth weight infants; in contrast, one hour increase of leisure activities decreased the probability of low birth weight infants by 0.32 (P = 0.008).ConclusionsAn increase in the time spent on sport and home activities, even after considering other influential factors, was related to low birth weight.
Highlights
Low birth weight is one of the most important public health issues in developing and developed countries and identifying its etiology is important for prevention
The present study showed that mean time spent on exercise and home physical activities was in direct relationship with chance of low birth weight so that increasing the time spent on the mentioned activities led to increased chance of delivering a low birth weight infant
Takto et al found a negative relationship between the time spent on physical activity at home and low birth weight[2], but Jahromi et al found no relationship between physical activity at home and low birth weight; they instead found a positive relationship between doing physical activity during pregnancy and low birth weight, which contradicted the findings of the present study
Summary
Low birth weight is one of the most important public health issues in developing and developed countries and identifying its etiology is important for prevention. The information was gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire which was prepared for determining the relationship between mothers’ lifestyle during pregnancy and infants' low birth weight using social determinants of health approach. In this questionnaire, scope of physical activity was investigated in three groups of athletic activities, activities at home and leisure activities. Low birth weight is one of the most important public health issues in both developing and developed countries It is one of the determining factors of survival and future physical and mental development of every infant. In addition to mental-physical problems, cost of treating and care of these infants is six times as much as that for other infants [9]
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