OBJECTIVE: We performed a cross sectional study at Edgardo Rebagliati Martins Hospital in 1997, including 238 mothers and their newborns whose birth weight was >2500gr and 40 mothers and their newborns (whose birth weight was≤ 2500gr. Our purpose was to determine whether maternal anthropometric characteristics were associated with the newborn birth weight.

MATERIAL and METHODS : We evaluated maternal data of (parity, intergenesic period, weight before pregnancy (WBP), weight, cefalic perimeter, body mass index, and weight gain during pregnancy (WGP)), paternal data (weight and height); and newborn data (sex, weight and height).

EPINFO6 statistical program was used to calculate means and standard deviation (SD) for the study variables in both groups. Results were compared by Z test for 2 independent populations. Correlation coefficients were tested with one tailed P-values of Student t to measure the significance of the association degree.

RESULTS : Mean WBP was less significant in the group with weight ≤2500g : 55.112 ± 7.313 vs 57.555 ± 9.1kg (p<0.05). The mean WGP was 9.67 ± 3.268 for the newborns whose weight was <2500gr, which was significantly less than 10.858 ± 4.692 for the newborn >2500gr. (p<0.05). The other variables did not yield significant differences, probably due to the small sample. Correlation coefficient for variables with respect respect to birth weight was r = 0.18 (p<0.005) for WBP and 0.17 (p<0.005) for WGP, which were the most significant.

CONCLUSION : These results confirm previous studies that showed WBP and WGP risk in pregnant mothers are the most sensitive nutritional indicators for low birth weight.