The association of birth weight and current body weight and its associated factors of primary school students in Johor Bahru

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the birth weight and current body weight and the con f ronting factors towards birth weight status and body weight status among national primary school students in Johor Bahru. Parental self­ reported questionnaire and direct anthropometric measurement were conducted in getting the data for analysis. A total of 210 students from an urban primary school and two rural primary schools were participated in this study. Birth weight were found linearly and directly correlate with the current BMI, with Ir I= 0.302 (p < 0.001). Prevalence of low birth weight and high birth weight among the schoolchildren was 8% and 1% respectively, with no significance between genders and residence areas. Average birth weight among the infants born on year 1999 to 2004 is 3.0 kg. Short maternal stature (p = 0.042), low maternal education level (p = 0.001), low household income (p = 0.047), young maternal age at birth (p = 0.011), short interpregnancy interval (p = 0.044), and preterm birth (p < 0.001) were found significantly associated with low birth weight, while paternal height (p = 0.018) significantly associated with high birth weight.