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Birth Weight in Israel, 1968–70

II. The Effect of Paternal Origin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Y. Handlesman  and
A. Michael Davies
Y. Handlesman
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Ecology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
A. Michael Davies
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Ecology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel
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Summary

The influence of the country of origin of the father on mean birth weight of offspring of Jewish immigrants to Israel has been examined in an analysis of 98% of records of live births for the period 1968–70. The mean birth weight of infants born to parents from the same country (in-group marriages) was 3309 ± 570 g and that of infants whose parents came from different countries (out-group marriages) was 3289 ± 565 g: these differences are not significant.

Infants born to immigrants from North African countries are heavier, and those born to immigrants from Asian countries lighter, than the Israeli mean. Apart from Algeria (whose immigrants have babies heavier than those from other North African countries) and India and Yemen (whose immigrants have babies lighter than those from other countries of Asia) there were no significant differences in adjusted mean birth weight by country of origin, within each continental group.

Mean birth weight is determined by a combination of maternal and environmental factors, paternal factors having little effect.

Analysis of birth weights of second and subsequent generations of Israeli-born, by origin of their grandparents, shows a fall in mean birth weight of those of North African descent and a rise in those of Asian descent, i.e. a tendency to approach an Israeli mean.

(Summary in Hebrew, p. 164.)

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , April 1975 , pp. 153 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1975

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