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An investigation of racial and ethnic disparities in birth weight in Chicago neighborhoods

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Demography

Abstract

We examine differences in the mean birth weights of infants born to non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, and Mexican-origin Hispanic mothers (of any race) in Chicago in 1990 using linear regression models with neighborhood fixed effects. Our pooled models accounted for 64% of the black-white difference and 57% of the black/Mexican-origin Hispanic difference. Differences in the relationship between measured characteristics and birth weight accounted for around half the birth-weight gap between non-Hispanic black and other infants. Efforts to close this gap must go beyond programs that aim to reduce the level of risk factors among black women to address the causes of differences in the effects of risk factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAND Corporation, 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, 90407, Santa Monica, CA

    Narayan Sastry

  2. Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7445, Chapel Hill, NC

    Jon M. Hussey

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  1. Narayan Sastry
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  2. Jon M. Hussey
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Additional information

We grate fully acknowledge the helpful comments and feedback provided by Gunnar Almgren at many stage of the work reported in this paper. We also thank Glenn Good, Chicago Department of Public Health, and Barbara Sullivan, Illinois Department of Public Health.

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Sastry, N., Hussey, J.M. An investigation of racial and ethnic disparities in birth weight in Chicago neighborhoods. Demography 40, 701–725 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2003.0039

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