Table 2.
Descriptive statistics for child health, physical growth, and cognitive developmental at birth, 9 months, and 24 months by ethnic and linguistic group (weighted means and standard deviations reported; significance tests relative to whites)
| Ethnic groups | Latina mothersa | Statistical differences viz. whitesb | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian and Pacific Islander | African-American | White | Mexican-American | Other Latinas | Spanish speaking | English speaking | Mexican-American | Other Latinas | Latina mothers: Spanish speaking | Latina mothers: English speaking | |
| Birth events (n = 6,419)c | |||||||||||
| Premature newborns per 100 births | 1.7 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 0.13 | 5.28** | 0.01 | 3.45** |
| Birth weight (kg) | 3.2 (0.5) | 3.2 (0.6) | 3.4 (0.6) | 3.3 (0.6) | 3.3 (0.6) | 3.3 (0.6) | 3.3 (0.6) | −2.28*** | −2.5* | −2.35* | −3.04** |
| 9-month health and cognitive status (n = 7,869) | |||||||||||
| Weight (kg) | 9.0 (2.6) | 9.0 (3.6) | 9.2 (2.9) | 9.7 (2.4) | 9.7 (2.9) | 9.8 (2.5) | 9.5 (2.5) | 3.73*** | 0.56 | 4.48*** | 0.44 |
| Mother rates child’s health as “excellent” (%) | 58 | 60 | 68 | 52 | 62 | 49 | 63 | 45.59*** | 0.08 | 59.27*** | 3.06 |
| Respiratory illness diagnosed since birth (%) | 6 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 4.96* | 0.02 | 6.00** | 0.01 |
| Bayley mental score | 76.8 (9.3) | 76.4 (9.9) | 77.1 (9.7) | 76.3 (9.2) | 77.6 (10.0) | 76.3 (9.4) | 77.4 (9.6) | −1.58 | −2.17* | −3.22** | 0.92 |
| Bayley motor score | 51.5 (16.7) | 52.4 (15.3) | 51.5 (16.2) | 52.2 (16.4) | 52.1 (15.6) | 52.4 (15.3) | 52.4 (15.3) | 0.60 | −0.09 | −0.82 | 1.74 |
| 24-month health and cognitive status (n = 6,796) | |||||||||||
| Weight (kg) | 12.5 (1.8) | 12.9 (2.0) | 12.8 (1.8) | 13.3 (2.0) | 13.2 (2.1) | 13.3 (2.0) | 13.2 (2.1) | 4.34*** | 2.21*** | 5.81*** | 1.14 |
| Body-mass index (BMI) | 17.0 (2.0) | 17.5 (2.1) | 17.4 (2.2) | 18.0 (2.4) | 17.7 (2.4) | 17.9 (2.4) | 17.6 (2.5) | 3.08** | 1.54 | 4.08*** | 1.05 |
| Mother rates child’s health as “excellent” (%) | 54 | 59 | 69 | 49 | 63 | 48 | 63 | 61.77*** | 1.30 | 65.66*** | 9.04** |
| Asthma diagnosed since birth (%) | 7 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 0.24 | 4.77* | 0.01 | 7.88** |
| Bayley mental score | 127.6 (10.4) | 124.7 (10.0) | 130.1 (10.0) | 122.8 (9.6) | 124.1 (9.8) | 122.0 (8.8) | 125.1 (10.7) | −6.37*** | −5.53*** | −17.42*** | −6.79*** |
| Bayley motor score | 80.7 (5.2) | 81. (4.8) | 80.7 (5.4) | 80.8 (5.4) | 80.7 (5.1) | 81.0 (5.4) | 80.7 (5.0) | 0.94 | −0.49 | 0.92 | 0.51 |
| Child securely attached to mother (%) | 65 | 54 | 66 | 61 | 50 | 60 | 55 | 15.75*** | 15.48*** | 12.75*** | 17.34*** |
aNon-English, non-Spanish mothers are excluded
bReporting t-values for continuous variables; chi-square statistics for binary variables. * P < .05, ** P < .01, *** P < .001
cThe birth forms the case, given the lack of independence among newborns involved in multiple births. In this case, one twin is randomly selected