Características pondoestaturales al nacer y su relación con variables sociodemográficas de la madre en niños ecuatorianos

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify possible relationships of the weight-height and perinatal characteristics at birth in Ecuadorian children with the sociodemographic variables of the mother. This may be evidenced through the weight, which is an indicator of the nutritional status of the newborn and of the mother. Weight, height and perinatal characteristics are influenced by the demographic, epidemiological and nutritional transition. The methodology was a mixed non-experimental approach. The data source was extracted from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses that was a result of the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment (Acronym in Spanish: ENEMDU). The group and sample consisted of 306,868 newborns. The variables analyzed were sex, length, weight, week of gestation, type of delivery, APGAR score, product of pregnancy, delivery assistance, prenatal check-ups, mother's age, number of pregnancies, number of living children, ethnicity, marital status, and level of instruction. The analysis techniques were exploratory data analysis, normality tests and chi-square tests of independence. The results showed that the newborns measure an average of 48.62 cm with a deviation of ± 2.42 cm. They weigh 3,090 g with a deviation of ± 503.33 g. Delivery occurs at 38 weeks with a deviation of ± 1.75, and most of the deliveries were normal and were attended by health professionals after being evaluated in an average of seven previous consultations with a deviation of ±2.60. The relationships of the sociodemographic factors of the mother with the weights and measures and perinatal characteristics determined that they are statistically significant <0.001, such as province where they are born, ethnic group, marital status, educational level, number of pregnancies and number of children. It is recommended to replicate the study annually to monitor and control the provinces with the highest rate of nutritional problems evidenced by the weight and height of the newborn.