Saugstad L F
J Epidemiol Community Health. 1981 Sep;35(3):185-91. doi: 10.1136/jech.35.3.185.
Birth weight is the most important determinant of perinatal and infant mortality. The lowest mortality rates in the first week of life are recorded among newborn infants weighing 3500 g or more and the proportion of such infants may be regarded as a measure of optimality of the birth population. There is an inverse relationship between the proportion of heavy newborn infants in a country and its infant mortality rate. In both these respects Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have better experience than England and Wales, Denmark, and the United States of America. The effects of parity, maternal age, social class, and smoking are considered, but it appears that there are still factors that inhibit the intrauterine growth potential of American, British, and Danish fetuses. Elective delivery, use of diuretics, and restriction of diet in pregnancy have shifted the birth distribution to the left and this may have more than counterbalanced the possible beneficial effects. These other factors may adversely affect birthweight distribution in North America and Europe to such an extent as to limit or even damage the favourable position already achieved in health and social development as measured by fetal survival.
出生体重是围产期和婴儿死亡率最重要的决定因素。出生体重3500克及以上的新生儿在出生后第一周的死亡率最低，这类婴儿的比例可被视为出生人口最优性的一个衡量指标。一个国家中体重较重的新生儿比例与其婴儿死亡率呈负相关。在这两个方面，冰岛、挪威和瑞典的情况比英格兰和威尔士、丹麦以及美利坚合众国更好。文中考虑了胎次、产妇年龄、社会阶层和吸烟的影响，但似乎仍存在一些因素抑制了美国、英国和丹麦胎儿的宫内生长潜力。选择性分娩、利尿剂的使用以及孕期饮食限制已使出生体重分布向左偏移，这可能已经超过抵消了可能的有益影响。这些其他因素可能会对北美和欧洲的出生体重分布产生不利影响，以至于限制甚至损害在胎儿存活率所衡量的健康和社会发展方面已经取得的有利地位。
