BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Low birth weight (LBW) is a critical indicator of infant survival and a reflection of significant public health challenges. This study aims to investigate the parental socioeconomic, demographic, and neonatal factors influencing LBW among newborns in Bangladesh.

METHODS

Simple random sampling was used to gather data for the study, which included 597 recent births. The test was used to evaluate associations. Binary multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for LBW, with a significance level set at a value of 0.05.

RESULTS

The results indicated that 27.5% ( = 164) of the infants had LBW. The binary logistic regression analysis showed, preterm birth was associated to a twofold increase in the odds of LBW (OR: 2.376, 95% CI: 1.566-3.606,  < 0.05). Furthermore, maternal age had a significant impact on birth weight; mothers aged > 35 years had a 39.6% lower chance of having a LBW child than mothers < 21 (OR: 0.396, 95% CI: 0.252-0.624,  < 0.05). The odds of giving birth to a low-weight baby were 39.1% lower for women who took certain medications during pregnancy than for those who did not (OR: 0.609, 95% CI: 0.373-0.995,  < 0.05). LBW is 1.838 times more likely to occur in babies born to mothers who have mineral deficiencies (OR: 1.838, 95% CI: 1.200-2.816,  < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The risk of LBW is greatly increased by premature birth, younger maternal age, mineral deficiencies, and the absence of maternal medication use during pregnancy. Reducing the prevalence of LBW and enhancing neonatal health outcomes in Bangladesh requires addressing these factors.