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OBSERVATIONS ON INTRAUTERINE GROWTH IN URBAN ETHIOPIA
Author(s) -
GEBREMEDHIN MEHARI,
STERKY GÖRAN,
TAUBE ADAM
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1978.tb16261.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anthropometry , birth weight , gestation , gestational age , obstetrics , demography , pediatrics , pregnancy , biology , genetics , sociology
. A total of 3 144 deliveries comprising a wide range of socio‐economic groups in Addis Abeba were investigated. A positive correlation was found between family income and birth weight, with a difference of nearly 500 g between the extremes of socio‐economic classes. A seasonal variation in meart birth weight was also observed. The mean length of gestation was 7.4 days shorter, and the anthropometric measures at birth were significantly lower in the Ethiopian infants as compared with the Swedish norm. The median weight and length development in relation to gestational age in the Ethiopian newborns was similar to the Swedish standard up to approximately 34–35 weeks of gestation. After that time there was very little further intrauterine growth in Ethiopian infants. The possible reasons for the observed pattern of growth are discussed.