Birth Weight Across Ethnically Diverse Asian and Pacific Islander Populations: An Analysis of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Nativities and Ethnicities in a New Immigrant Destination

Kim Korinek , University of Utah
Zobayer Ahmad, University of Utah
Guadalupe Aguilera, University of Utah
Bethany Gull, University of Utah

While immigrant women have frequently experienced "paradoxically" healthy birth outcomes as compared to U.S. born women, the extent to which this pattern extends to Asian and Pacific Islander (API) women is largely unknown. Especially rare are studies which disaggregate the diverse national origins of PI women. We investigate risk factors for adverse birth outcomes, specifically low birth weight and macrosomia, among detailed Asian and Pacific Islander populations in Utah, a new immigrant destination with one of the country's largest Pacific Islander populations. Analyzing Utah Population Database birth certificate records for all singleton births from 1978-2016, we find widely variable risks of LBW and macrosomia across API populations. Our findings are suggest ill effects of acculturation, as evidenced by more adverse birth outcomes in US born PI women (Tongan) in comparison to foreign born counterparts, and by greater LBW odds among immigrant mother-US born father parents versus immigrant mother-immigrant father parents.

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 Presented in Session 76. Flash Session: Unpacking Associations Between Race/Ethnicity and Health