Iron intake during pregnancy reduces low birth weight: A propensity score analysis

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) remains a significant public health problem. As nutritional problems, including anaemia, can cause LBW, iron supplementation is needed during pregnancy. Objectives: To assess the impact of iron supplementation during pregnancy on birth weight in Indonesia using data from the 2017 Indonesia Demographic Health Survey (IDHS). Method: Birth weight was categorized into two groups, LBW (<2500g) and normal birth weight (2500g or more). Iron supplementation was constructed into two groups, mothers who did not take or whose intake was less than 90 tablets during pregnancy and mothers who took ≥90 tablets during pregnancy. A sample of 10,518 children born within five years was matched using propensity scores. We used binary logistic regression and adjusted for 12 possible confounders after matching the data. Then, we performed logistic regression to assess the relationship between iron intake during pregnancy and birth weight. We built multistage multivariate logistic regression models using the backward elimination technique. We adjusted the model with some confounding factors, including socioeconomic and community-level factors, maternal and child characteristics, and maternal and child health services. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, this study found that iron supplementation during pregnancy significantly reduced LBW (AOR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.88). Conclusions: This study found that iron supplementation during pregnancy significantly reduced LBW Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2023; 52(2): 136-141