Open AccessNew evidence on the effects of international migration on the risk of low birthweight in Mexico
Author(s) -
Sunil Thankam S.,
Flores Miguel,
Garcia Ginny E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
maternal and child nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1740-8709
pISSN - 1740-8695
DOI - 10.1111/j.1740-8709.2010.00277.x
Subject(s) - medicine , socioeconomic status , low birth weight , logistic regression , odds , odds ratio , demography , multivariate statistics , demographic economics , birth weight , environmental health , population , economics , pregnancy , statistics , mathematics , pathology , sociology , biology , genetics
The purpose of this article is to provide new empirical evidence linking migration of Mexican households to the USA with infant health outcomes. By using new data for Mexico, the Encuesta Nacional de la Dinamica Demografica 2006, this research focuses on the effect of migration on birth weight. Multivariate logistic regression methods are used to model low birth weight (LBW) as a function of a set of proximate, intermediate and socioeconomic determinants. In analyzing the channels through which migration affects birth outcomes, the findings provide no conclusive evidence for remittances as the only mechanism associated with lowering the odds of LBW. Given the limitations of the data, the study results showed new empirical evidence explaining the significance of both financial and social remittances associated with international migration and infant health outcomes in Mexico.