Maternal Characteristics Influencing Birth Weight And Early Childhood Growth In The Tamale Metropolis

ABSTRACT

Birth weight is used as a measure of maternal health and nutritional status as well as infant growth and survival. Low birth weight and early childhood malnutrition have both been associated with increased mortality and morbidity in children. Despite interventions like the ANC and growth monitoring and promotion by the Ghana Health Service to ensure adequate birth weight and early childhood growth, the prevalence of low birth weight and poor early childhood growth in the Northern Region of Ghana are still very high and unacceptable. The main aim of this study, therefore, was to identify maternal factors that influence birth weight and early childhood growth in the Tamale metropolis. A retrospective cohort study design was used in the study in which the exposed group was mothers with height