ENIGMA OF MEXICAN ORIGIN PREGNANCY OUTCOMES

研究的主要目的是提供一个更完整的 解释为什么墨西哥裔美国人，谁，基于最传统的 指标，代表高风险人群，有这样的相对 良好的妊娠结局。该研究具有以下具体 目标： (i)开发和测试有关社会经济，人口统计， 社会文化，生物医学和生理风险因素，可能有助于 解决有利的妊娠结局之谜，特别是分娩 体重，在墨西哥裔美国人中; (2)在比较的背景下探索这些假设， 非西班牙裔黑人和非西班牙裔白人; (3)调查出生结果悖论“解释了 就结果的种族选择性所带来的偏见而言， (4)第一次，检查是否有一套不同的 风险因素需要考虑两个组成部分的变化， 低出生体重（早产和宫内发育迟缓）， 墨西哥裔美国人似乎是非西班牙裔黑人的情况， 白人 人们对出生体重的高度重视的理由是， 研究人员、医疗从业人员和政策制定者最初居住在 事实上，出生体重是最有力的预测， 婴儿存活的机会。尽管这个问题至关重要， 出生体重对儿童健康的影响远远超出了机会 活下来的几率低出生体重与 一系列儿童健康问题， 成就和家庭功能。墨西哥裔美国人能够 在一个处于不利地位的社会中实现如此显著有利的生育结果， 和经济背景表明，改善因素的运作， 抵消了否则会产生的相当不利的后果。识别 这些因素和规范的机制，通过它们 行动将提供极其宝贵的信息，以支持努力 促进所有种族的婴儿和儿童的健康和福祉， 和种族群体。 使用最近可获得的具有国家代表性的数据集（ 全国母婴健康调查），假设检验将 首先通过分析出生体重作为一个连续变量 使用传统的回归方法。当注意力转移到 低出生体重多项逻辑回归模型的组成部分将 适用于分析种族和民族差异的风险， 早产和宫内发育迟缓。

The major objective of the proposed research is to provide a more complete explanation of why Mexican Americans, who, based on most conventional indicators, represent a high-risk population, have such relatively favorable pregnancy outcomes. The research has the following specific aims: (i) to develop and test hypotheses regarding socioeconomic, demographic, sociocultural, biomedical, and physiological risk factors that may help to resolve the enigma of favorable pregnancy outcomes, especially birth weight, in the Mexican American population; (2) to explore these hypotheses in a comparative context that involves both non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites; (3) to investigate the extent to which the birth outcome paradox "explains itself" in terms of bias introduced by ethnic selectivity of outcomes; (4) to examine, for the first time, whether a somewhat different set of risk factors is required to account for variation in the two components of low birth weight (preterm birth and intrauterine growth retardation) among Mexican Americans as appears to be the case among non-Hispanic blacks and whites. The rationale for the tremendous emphasis placed on birth weight by researchers, medical practitioners, and policy-makers resides initially in the fact that birth weight is far and away the most powerful predictor of the chances of infant survival. As crucial as this issue is, the implications of birth weight for child health extend well beyond chances of surviving the first year of life. Low birth weight is associated with a host of childhood health problems and with poorer educational achievement and family functioning. The fact Mexican Americans are able to achieve such remarkably favorable birth outcomes in a disadvantaged social and economic context suggests the operation of ameliorating factors which offset what would otherwise be quite adverse consequences. Identification of these factors and specification of the mechanisms through which they operate would provide extremely valuable information in support of efforts to promote the health and well-being of infants and children of all racial and ethnic groups. Using a recently available nationally representative data set (the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey), testing of hypotheses will proceed first through analysis of birth weight as a continuous variable using conventional regression methods. When attention is shifted to the components of low birth weight multinomial logistic regression models will be applied to the analysis race and ethnic differentials in the risk of a preterm delivery and intrauterine growth retardation.