Peso al nacimiento en ecosistemas de altura. Noroeste argentino: Susques

Abstract

Human populations living in high altitude ecosystems have had to adapt to the environmental stress that characterized these mediums. One of these adaptations seems to be birth weight reduction. In this paper, 300 births, registered between 1996 and 2002 in the andean department of Susques (3.600 m), northwest of the Republic of Argentine are analyzed. Their weight, sex, mother age and parity are known. Results show that birth weight is smaller in Susques than in zones of lower altitude of the same county. Very low weight newborns percentage is very small as founded in the rest of the county. On the contrary, low weight babies in the studied population shows higher frecuencies than those of the regions situated in altitudes lower than 2.500 m.s.n.m. The birth weight increase with the parity and the mother's age and it presents a significant sexual dimorphism. But these variables don’t explain, by themselves, the observed newborns ponderal variation, that should change because of other tipical factors of the estudied environment influence.