Modeling of the determinants of Low-birth weight among children in Uganda

Abstract

Birthweight is the first weight of the baby obtained after birth. For live childbirths, birthweight should preferably be measured within the first hour of life, before substantial post-natal weight loss has occurred. Low birth weight renders children exposed to infectious disease morbidity and mortality during both infancy and childhood. The objective of the study was to apply the modified binary logistic model to determine the factors associated with low birth weight among children in Uganda. The data used for this study was the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS- 2016), the UDH survey selected 20615 households where 15522 women were successfully interviewed with known child birth weight out of which 5498 observations were considered after data cleaning. The results of the study revealed that the association between the age of the mother and low birth was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.044. The study also found that the risk of low birth weight babies was low for married women as compared to non-married women with a p-value of 0.003. Antenatal visit during pregnancy decreases the chances of having an infant with low birth weight. The association between low birth weight and the employed was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.007 and the likelihood of low birth weight infants for the rich was low as compared to the poor. The study concluded that the association between age, antenatal visits during pregnancy, occupation, wealth status of the mother and low birth weight were statistically significant.