Author:

Abstract

A study was conducted with the.aim of establishing the mean birth weight, crown-heel length and head circumference for Sri Lankan newborns. A total of 1325 normal, singleton babies (993 Sinhalese and 332 Moor) with ultrasonically confirmed period of gestation, born at the Maternity Unit of the Base Hospital Kegalle, were selected..Means ancLstandard deviations for the above measurements of the Sinhalese and Moor babies were established. Since the number of babies belonging to the Tamil ethnic group was small for statistical analysis, they were excluded from the study. For all three measurements, the mean values of male newborns were higher than those of the female newborns. When compared with the Sinhalese, the Moor males and females had highly significant higher values for birth weight, crownheel length and head circumference (P<0.001). Simple linear regression analyses were carried out between the baby's weight and maternal measures such as height, weight, age and parity. A significant relationship was observed between the baby's weight and mother's weight.

Keywords: Anthropometry, Newborn, Gestational age, Reference standards, Ethnicity