Darolyn Downing

Publication Date

11-1979

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

David Dunn, Wayne Higgins, Robert Baum

Comments

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Original department Health & Safety

Degree Program

Department of Public Health

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The study was a comparative retrospective analysis. The purpose of the study was to determine what effect the WIC program had on the birth weight of infants born to prenatal clients on the WIC program as compared to the birth weight of infants born to prenatal clients not on the WIC program. The women in the study were selected from the clients of the Prenatal Clinic of the Bowling Green-Warren County Health Department from June, 1975, to May, 1978.

The subjects were randomly selected from the records of the clients who attended the Bowling Green-Warren County Health Department's Prenatal Clinic and were also enrolled on the WIC program at the health department. Fifty randomly selected subjects from the WIC program made up the observational experimental group. These were matched by race and age to one hundred women who were clients of the Prenatal Clinic but were not on the WIC program during this period of time. This latter group was the control group. The statistical analysis using the t-test at the .05 level of significance was applied to determine the difference in the mean birth weight of the infants born to the two groups. The t-test of the observed difference proved not to be statistically significant for the overall group, or for the groups when compared by age categories 15-19 years of age, 20-24 years of age, and 25-30 years of age. The difference in the birth weight of the white prenatal group on WIC and those not on WIC was not significantly different. The t-test results for the nonwhite prenatal group on WIC was not statistically significant but did show a trend toward a significant level. The infants born to the group had a mean birth weight of 117.40 ounces (7.34 pounds) which is above the state average birth weight for the years 1975-1978.

Disciplines

Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Maternal and Child Health | Medicine and Health Sciences | Public Health | Women's Health

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