Anthropometric determinants of low birth weight in newborns of Hoshiarpur district (Punjab)

- A hospital based study.

Introduction
Many babies within the Hoshiarpur district of India are coming into the world with a low
birth weight (LBW) and it is something to keep an eye on for it is a serious matter because of
the later difficulties the child will lead in life as he/she ages to an adult. To steer away from the
dangerous lows, scientists conducted a research study to decrease the amount of LBW babies
being born. Why is this such a serious issue? It is because there are about 82% of newborn
babies who are born with a LBW and this in turn affects growth population. For the scientists to
find their conclusion and solution will take time, but it is possible with newly discovered
knowledge. Scientists will be able to educate mothers and even fathers how to care for the
unborn child.
Materials and Methods
A method used when babies are born is the Apgar test. Apgar stands for appearance,
pulse, grimace response, activity, and respiration. The reason the Apgar is taken is because
doctors want to be sure your baby is ready to be exposed to the world outside of the hospital
and to be sure that no other medical assistance is needed. A second method, which is also
important is taking measurements before and after a pregnancy. What is measured is the
babys head, arms, legs, thighs, chest, etc. The scientists would compare the measurements to
that of a baby with normal birth weight. The second method was to perform an anthropometric
test, which measured the body size, structure, body fat and muscle mass. Materials needed for
this test was a body weight scale, stadiometer, stop watch, and plastic measuring tape.
Results
Anthropometric studies of the newborn helps to evaluate the maturity status of the
baby and identifies the relationship between health and disease (Golalipour MJ, 2003).
Scientists discovered a fascinating fact during their study, though, it is entirely irrelevant to the
impending solutions; they found that female newborns had a lower LBW than that of a male
newborn. Due to the Apgar and Anthropometric measurements test, the scientists were able
to find very significant information that would benefit their research greatly and that was
knowing where the cutoff point of LBW was at and which measurement was most relevant to
comparing measurements. What I mean by some measurements not being relevant is that
some measurements are not key factors in throwing a baby into the LBW category they are
just insignificant measurements that mean nothing.
Discussion
What really threw scientists off was that the anthropometric test cutoffs were very
much different varying from country to country this also includes ethnicity. Genetics and the
mothers intake played a role in the babys weight. Because of this newfound information,
doctors from all over cannot use the same measurements because it is different everywhere,
but what had been studied by the scientists only measured up to what they had expected to
begin with. More research and studies should have been made.