Racial/Ethnic Differences in Low Birth Weight in the United States: An Examination of Maternal Age and Parity

Jeffrey A. Dennis, University of Texas of the Permian Basin

This study examines parity to gauge how normative timing of first childbearing may impact birth outcomes. Given that average age at first childbirth varies relatively widely by race/ethnicity in the U.S., it is important to consider how these norms may be related to disparities in birth outcomes. Data for this study are derived from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort and the 2001 U.S. Birth Data File. Findings indicate that LBW prevalence increases with maternal age for first births among African American and Native American mothers, but does not increase with maternal age for second or later births. Similar, but far less pronounced patterns are present for U.S.-born Hispanic mothers. White, foreign-born Hispanic and Asian American mothers exhibit no differences in LBW by parity. Thus, parity and normative timing of first childbearing represents a major aspect of interest in the understanding of LBW risk by maternal age.