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Birthweight curves for newborns according to maternal ancestry

Canadian data suggests that infants born to parents of East Asian and South Asian ancestry may be of lower birth weight than those of White European decent. Using traditional newborn birthweight curves, some Canadian newborns of East Asian and South Asian ancestry may be misclassified as small for gestational age birthweight (SGA), while they are actually normal in birthweight if compared to other East Asian and South Asian infants <Ray JG, Jiang D, Sgro M, Shah R, Singh G, Mamdani MM. Thresholds for small for gestational age among newborns of East Asian and South Asian ancestry. J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2009; 31:322-30>.

We developed contemporary population-based birth weight percentile charts for male and female live born infants specific to seven maternal world regions of birth, including Canada . We included liveborn infants of Canadian-born (n = 486,599), Europe and Western Nations (n = 58,505), Africa/Caribbean (n = 37,382), North Africa/Middle East (n = 25,650), Latin America (n = 26,042) Southeast Asia/Pacific (n = 61,819) and South Asia (n = 70,691) <Ray JG, Sgro M, Mamdani MM, Glazier RH, Bocking A, Hilliard R, Urquia ML. Birth weight curves tailored to maternal World region. J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2012;34:159-71>.

The smoothed birthweight percentile curves can be accessed here by clicking on any of the following PDF links:

FEMALE SINGLETON INFANTS

  • South Asian maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
  • Southeast Asian maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea North, Korea South, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
  • African/Caribbean maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, United Republic Of Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • North African/Middle Eastern maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen
  • Latin American maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
  • European and Western maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Czechoslovakia, Former USSR, Former Yugoslavia, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State
  • Canadian-born maternal ancestry

MALE SINGLETON INFANTS

  • South Asian maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
  • Southeast Asian maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea North, Korea South, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu, Viet Nam
  • African/Caribbean maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D’ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, United Republic Of Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • North African/Middle Eastern maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen
  • Latin American maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
  • European and Western maternal ancestry
    Defining countries: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Czechoslovakia, Former USSR, Former Yugoslavia, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State
  • Canadian-born maternal ancestry

Joel G. Ray, Joel.Ray@unityhealth.to
Michael Sgro, MD
Richard H Glazier, MD MSc
Alan Bocking, MD
Robert Hilliard. MD
Muhammad M. Mamdani, PharmD , MA , MPH
Marcelo L. Urquia, PhD

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Last updated June 03, 2021