Introduction and object: This study was designed for determining the birth weight and
some other factors affecting rural newborn children in the north of Iran (south east of
Caspian sea).
Material and Method: A sample size of 695 cases was chosen by cluster and random
sampling from 20 villages. The birth weight of the newborn and the mother’s socioeconomic
status were recorded by a questionnaire. The data was analyzed by SPSS
windows software.
Results: The prevalence of LBW, NBW and HBW was observed to be 11.1%, 84.1% and
4.8%, respectively. The birth weight among children whose mothers had iron supplements
was lower than that of children whose mothers did not take iron supplement (3173gr vs
3246gr) and statistical differences between the two groups were not significant. Birth
weight have a positive correlation and significant statistical differences with both
maternal age (r=0.2 , p=0.01) and maternal BMI(r=0.24 , p=0.01).The birth weight in the
5th birth order was more than that in the1st birth order and statistical differences were
significant (P=0.01). Birth weight had a positive correlation with familial income (P<0.05).
Discussion: Our study showed that maternal BMI, birth order and socioeconomic factors
were associated with intrauterine weight gain, but iron supplements didn’t have a positive
outcome.