Tag : Underweight

Washington: According to a pooled data analysis of the available evidence having an underweight and premature baby is associated with having experienced racial discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, skin colour, or nationality. The findings of the research were published in the journal 'BMJ Global Health'. The research adds to the existing evidence that race discrimination is a risk factor for poor health outcomes, say the researchers. For several decades, the race has been recognised as a social determinant of health and a risk factor for numerous diseases. The evidence increasingly suggests that upstream social, environmental, economic and political factors are fundamental drivers of health inequities and that it is often racism, rather than race, that is the root cause. For example, maternal death rates among Black and Indigenous women in the USA are 2-3 times higher than those of White women. Similarly, in the UK, maternal death rates are 2-4 times higher among Black and Asian women than they are among White women. To explore the existing patterns of racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes, the researchers searched 8 electronic databases, looking for relevant studies on self-reported race discrimination and premature birth (before 37 weeks), low birth weight, and high blood pressure associated with pregnancy, and published them up to January 2022. In all, the results of 24 studies were included in the final analysis, with the number of participants in each study ranging from 39 to 9470. Most (20) studies were carried out in the US. Study participants were of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, including Black or African American, Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, Maori, Pacific, Asian, Aboriginal, Romani, indigenous Ger ...