Swedes with a non-Western background lag behind in terms of birth weight
Newswise – In a new study, researchers found large inequalities in birth weight among descendants of non-Western immigrants compared to descendants of Swedes. The biggest differences were found in the third generation. Researchers warn that inequalities may continue to increase in subsequent generations.
“Swedish-born individuals with mothers born in non-western countries had a lower birth weight compared with those with mothers born in Sweden, and this gap increases when we look at their children. Previous studies show that being born with low birth weight has enormous effects and is linked to health and socio-economic outcomes later in life “, says Siddartha Aradhya, researcher at the Demography Unit at the Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, and first author of the study that was published. today in the journal BMJ Global Health.
The researchers also observed an increase in the odds of low birth weight (less than 2500 g) when comparing individuals with a non-Western background with those with a Swedish background. It is important that increasing inequalities were not observed among other groups with a non-Swedish background.
Previous studies have documented differences in birth weight among descendants of white and non-white immigrants in several contexts with a long migration history, such as the United States, Great Britain and Brazil. But this is the first time this has been analyzed in a context where immigration is a newer phenomenon.
“These findings are puzzling, especially in the Swedish context where all residents have access to general health care and education. Also considering that people from the non-western groups mainly came from countries in conflict, which generally experience such an improvement in Sweden in terms of security and perhaps resources “, says Sol Juárez, senior lecturer at the Department of Public Health, Stockholm University, and co-author of the study .
Discrimination can be one of the reasons
The researchers used population registers to identify the birth weight of two generations of women born in Sweden (mothers and daughters) with either a Swedish-born or foreign-born background (grandmothers). The authors examined differences in average birth weight and odds of low birth weight (less than 2,500 g). The third generation had 147 grams lower birth weight in the non-western group, in relation to the comparable Swedish population. Even after taking into account the mother’s BMI, birth weight, height, gestational age, age at birth, smoking during pregnancy, education and income, a significant unexplained difference of 80 grams remained between those with a non-Western background compared to those with a Swedish background. . .
“This does not mean that the birth weight of those with a non-Western background decreases over generations, it is more that they fall behind. All other groups experience increases in birth weight over generations following general trends for improved population health. If this difference continues, we really talk about the levels of inequality we see in the US and the UK, says Siddartha Aradhya.
– The differences in birth weight found in the third generation between those with Swedish and non-Western heritage are not negligible if we consider that moderate smoking during pregnancy is associated with a lower birth weight of about 200 grams, says Siddartha Aradhya.
According to the study, these inequalities in birth weight developed in Sweden, the host society.
– The second generation was born in Sweden, grew up in Sweden and has children in Sweden. Previous studies have shown that discrimination can affect human health. This is perhaps an explanation, as well as thinking about what it is like to be “the other” in society and how it affects your health, says Sol Juárez.
The researchers in the study emphasize that some of the inequalities we can observe later begin as early as birth.
“If we discover that non-Western third-generation immigrants are doing really poorly in school, we must take into account that they are also born into inequality. And given the fact that it only happens to the non-Western group, which is predominantly non-white, we are actually observing a racial inequality. By ignoring all the signs that point in that direction, this will be a problem in the future “, says Sol Juárez.
Find the publication
Immigrants’ descent and birth weight over two generations born in Sweden: an intergenerational cohort study. BMJ Global Health. Article URL: https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/4/e007341 DOI: 10.1136 / bmjgh-2021-007341. Authors: Siddartha Aradhya (Stockholm University), Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi (University of Glasgow / Stockholm University) and Sol Juárez (Stockholm University / Karolinska Institutet).
More about the study
The sample included 314,415 daughters born in Sweden during the period 1989–2012, linked to 246,642 mothers born in Sweden during 1973–1996, and to their grandmothers who were Swedish or foreign-born. The information comes from various administrative registers, including the Medical Birth Register, the Total Population Register, the Income and Tax Register, the Education Register and the Multigenerational Register. One of the reasons why the researchers excluded fathers and sons was that father-child birth weight correlates to a much lesser extent than mother-child birth weight.