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Why
Study Birth Weight ?
There
are thousands of research papers on birth weight, with a hundred
more appearing every month. Why is this such a popular topic?
- Data are free and abundant. Birth weight is precisely
measurable, recorded by law as part of vital statistics, and
available for large populations.
- Birth weight is a strong predictor of an individual baby's
survival. In general, the lower the weight, the higher a
baby's risk of death.
- Groups
with lower mean birth weight often have higher infant mortality.
Examples are twins, infants of women who smoke, and infants
of women with low socioeconomic status.
- Low birth weight is associated with poor outcomes later
in life. Asthma, low IQ, and hypertension are a few.
Birth
weight is usually divided for analysis into "low birth weight"
and "normal" birth weight. Behind this simple dichotomy is a complex
history and a controversy. You can explore this issue from two
directions:
If you're new to the topic of birth weight, you may want
to start with The Wilcox-Russell Hypothesis.
This sets out a framework for analyzing birth weight.  If
you have no preconceptions, this is a good introduction. From
there, you can proceed to explore the history of other approaches
to birth weight, and the theoretical basis for the hypothesis.
If you're experienced in analyzing low birth weight, you
are going to be challenged to reexamine some of your assumptions.
In this case, A Short History of Birth
Weight offers a more sensible starting point. From there,
you will proceed to The Low Birth Weight
Paradox, which sets the stage for an alternative approach.
This progression will allow you to see more clearly the connections
between the way you're used to thinking about birth weight and
the approach proposed here.
To re-iterate - if you're new to the topic, go now to The
Wilcox-Russell Hypothesis.
If you're experienced in analyzing low birth weight, proceed to
A Short History of Low Birth Weight.
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Why
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