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Florian S, Ichou M, Panico L, Pinel-Jacquemin S, Vrijkotte TGM, Harskamp-van Ginkel MW, Huang RC, Carson J, Rodriguez LSM, Subiza-Pérez M, Vrijheid M, Fernández-Barrés S, Yang TC, Wright J, Corpeleijn E, Cardol M, Isaevska E, Moccia C, Kooijman MN, Voerman E, Jaddoe V, Welten M, Spada E, Rebagliato M, Beneito A, Ronfani L, Charles MA. Differences in birth weight between immigrants' and natives' children in Europe and Australia: a LifeCycle comparative observational cohort study. BMJ Open 2023; 13:e060932. [PMID: 36958776 PMCID: PMC10040079 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Research on adults has identified an immigrant health advantage, known as the 'immigrant health paradox', by which migrants exhibit better health outcomes than natives. Is this health advantage transferred from parents to children in the form of higher birth weight relative to children of natives? SETTING Western Europe and Australia. PARTICIPANTS We use data from nine birth cohorts participating in the LifeCycle Project, including five studies with large samples of immigrants' children: Etude Longitudinale Française depuis l'Enfance-France (N=12 494), the Raine Study-Australia (N=2283), Born in Bradford-UK (N=4132), Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study-Netherlands (N=4030) and the Generation R study-Netherlands (N=4877). We include male and female babies born to immigrant and native parents. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome is birth weight measured in grams. Different specifications were tested: birth weight as a continuous variable including all births (DV1), the same variable but excluding babies born with over 4500 g (DV2), low birth weight as a 0-1 binary variable (1=birth weight below 2500 g) (DV3). Results using these three measures were similar, only results using DV1 are presented. Parental migration status is measured in four categories: both parents natives, both born abroad, only mother born abroad and only father born abroad. RESULTS Two patterns in children's birth weight by parental migration status emerged: higher birth weight among children of immigrants in France (+12 g, p<0.10) and Australia (+40 g, p<0.10) and lower birth weight among children of immigrants in the UK (-82 g, p<0.05) and the Netherlands (-80 g and -73 g, p<0.001) compared with natives' children. Smoking during pregnancy emerged as a mechanism explaining some of the birth weight gaps between children of immigrants and natives. CONCLUSION The immigrant health advantage is not universally transferred to children in the form of higher birth weight in all host countries. Further research should investigate whether this cross-national variation is due to differences in immigrant communities, social and healthcare contexts across host countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Florian
- French National Institute for Demographic Studies, INED, Paris, France
| | - Mathieu Ichou
- French National Institute for Demographic Studies, INED, Paris, France
| | - Lidia Panico
- French National Institute for Demographic Studies, INED, Paris, France
- Centre for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS), Sciences Po, Paris, France
| | | | - Tanja G M Vrijkotte
- Department of Public Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Margreet W Harskamp-van Ginkel
- Department of Public Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Rae-Chi Huang
- Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University School of Medical and Health Sciences, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jennie Carson
- Telethon Kids Institute, School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Loreto Santa Marina Rodriguez
- Sub Directorate for Public Health and Addictions of Gipuzkoa, Ministry of Health of the Basque Government, San Sebastián, Spain
- Group of Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Mikel Subiza-Pérez
- Group of Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, San Sebastián, Spain
- Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Martine Vrijheid
- Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Tiffany C Yang
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, UK
| | - John Wright
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, UK
| | - Eva Corpeleijn
- Department of Epidemiology, GECKO Drenthe Cohort, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marloes Cardol
- Department of Epidemiology, GECKO Drenthe Cohort, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Elena Isaevska
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Universita degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Chiara Moccia
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Marjolein N Kooijman
- The Generation R Study Group, University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center Department of General Pediatrics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ellis Voerman
- The Generation R Study Group, University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center Department of General Pediatrics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vincent Jaddoe
- The Generation R Study Group, University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center Department of General Pediatrics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marieke Welten
- The Generation R Study Group, University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- University Medical Center, Erasmus Medical Center Department of General Pediatrics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Elena Spada
- Unit of Epidemiology, Meyer Children's University Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Marisa Rebagliato
- Predepartamental Unit of Medicine, Universitat Jaume I, Castello de la Plana, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain
- CIBERESP, Madrid, Spain
| | - Andrea Beneito
- Joint Research Unit in Epidemiology, Environment and Health, FISABIO, Valencia, Spain
| | - Luca Ronfani
- Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health Research Unit, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico materno infantile Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy
| | - Marie-Aline Charles
- Inserm and INED Joint Research Group, Paris, France
- Université Paris Cité, Inserm, Inrae, Cress, Paris, France
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