As part of a larger project examining socioeconomic and healthcare mechanisms contributing to child health in South America, George Wehby and South American collaborators led by Dr. Jorge Lopez-Camelo, director of research at the Center for Medical Education and Clinical Investigation (CEMIC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, examined disparities in birth weight and gestational age by ethnic ancestry in eight South American countries.

They found ethnic disparities in all countries except Chile. In Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Venezuela, they found disparities in both low birth weight and preterm birth. In Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia, they found disparities in preterm birth alone. They also found differences in fetal growth rate in several settings.

“A particularly interesting finding in our work is that no group consistently had the highest or lowest rates of adverse birth outcomes in all countries,” said Wehby. “Even though our work points to extensive disparities in child health in several South American countries, it also indicates that these disparities are driven by socioeconomic mechanisms that may be specific to each country.”

This project concluded that policymakers should acknowledge disparities and develop programs to effectively target them.

This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center.