Lack of change in birthweights of infants by generational status among Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean, and Black African mothers in a British cohort study

AIM: To test the hypothesis that an intergenerational increase would occur in birthweights of babies born to UK-born compared with overseas-born (migrant) minority women. METHOD: Live singleton births to mothers present at the 1991 Census in a national longitudinal study were classified by mother's country of birth and ethnic origin as reported in the census. During 1983-2000, 52,554 White, 1788 Indian, 1538 Pakistani, 995 Bangladeshi, 300 Black Caribbean, and 299 Black African live singleton births were identified. Mean birthweights were adjusted for maternal age, socio-economic circumstances, gender, year of birth, and birth order. RESULTS: Adjusted mean birthweights were: 3400 g (95% CI: 3395, 3405) for infants of UK-born White mothers; 3033 g (95% CI: 2980, 3087) of UK-born Indian mothers…