Factors associated with the low birth weight of children under five years in North Center of Burkina Faso

Abstract

Introduction. Low birth weight (LBW) is a major public health problem, in both developed and developing countries, due to its magnitude and strong association with infant morbidity and mortality. Aim. To estimate the prevalence of low birth weight and identify associated factors in children under five years old. Methods. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 8 villages in the commune of Pissila in north-central Burkina Faso, involving 262 mother-child pairs. The factors associated with low birth weight were identified according to the odds ratio (OR) raw and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) in the bivariate analysis and according to the adjusted OR in the multivariate analysis. Sociodemographic characteristics, reproductive history, previous morbidity and factors related to prenatal care were studied. Results. A total of 262 children with birth weights based on official documents were involved in this study. The proportion of low birth weight children was estimated at 10.7%. For maternal factors, we observed that the low level of education (adjusted OR=2.6), the fact of carrying out an itinerant activity (adjusted OR=3.4) and rural socialization (adjusted OR=0.3) were significantly associated with low birth weight. Additionally, maternal parity (adjusted OR=5.5) and large household size (adjusted OR=15.0) were also associated with low birth weight. Conclusion. These results confirm the conclusions of previous studies. Family planning, pre-conception intervention, financial empowerment of women and maternal education should be strengthened to reduce the incidence of low birth weight.