Relationship between acculturation and low birth weight among Mexican-American women.

Abstract

Objective. Foreign-born mothers have generally been shown to have significantly better pregnancy outcomes relative to US-born counterparts. Such is the case among Mexican American women. Despite the fact that a disproportionate number of Mexico-born mothers live below federal poverty standards, have late or no prenatal care, low educational attainment and encounter numerous barriers that prevent access to health care services, they experience an advantage in infant birth weight relative to US-born Mexican American mothers. Methodology. Using the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, 1988, this investigation examined the association between birth weight and health related behaviors among US and Mexico-born Mothers (N = 1183). Infant birth weight was regressed with place of birth (Mexico vs. US), marital status, age, household size, education, household income, pregnancy weight gain, smoking, and drinking. Results. Ordinary Least Square regression analysis shows that US-born status is associated with decreased infant birth weight after adjusting for sociodemographic and economic factors. Moreover, US-born mothers, relative to Mexico-born counterparts, are more likely to engage in risky perinatal health behaviors (smoking and alcohol use). Smoking was found to be negatively related to birth weight among Mexico-born, and positively related to birth weight among US-born. Education was inversely related to birth weight among Mexico-born mothers. Finally, maternal weight gain was positively related to birth weight for both groups. Conclusion. Results support the notion that health behaviors during pregnancy are the mechanisms by which acculturation influences infant birth weight. Results also support a weathering hypothesis which posits that prolonged exposure to stress and environmental hazards produces unhealthy behaviors. Implications for health, social policy, and future research are discussed.