Table 1. Characteristics of study participants included in the analysis (n = 1,287) by country of birth.
| Germany | Turkey | Eastern Europe | Other | p-value* | |
| (n = 903) | (n = 115) | (n = 145) | (n = 124) | ||
| Sex of child (% boys) | 51.7 | 55.7 | 46.9 | 49.2 | 0.52 |
| Child age at 6 months measurement (months): mean (SD) | 6.5 (0.7) | 6.4 (0.9) | 6.5 (0.7) | 6.4 (0.8) | 0.43 |
| Parental socioeconomic status in % | |||||
| low | 20.7 | 67.7 | 42.8 | 46.1 | <0.01 |
| middle | 52.2 | 28.4 | 50.0 | 41.7 | |
| high | 27.0 | 3.9 | 7.3 | 12.2 | |
| Parental education in % | |||||
| ISCED 0–2 | 28.3 | 65.4 | 27.8 | 45.6 | <0.01 |
| ISCED 3–4 | 52.6 | 25.2 | 60.4 | 32.5 | |
| ISCED 5–6 | 19.2 | 9.4 | 11.8 | 21.9 | |
| Pre-pregnancy BMI in % | |||||
| Underweight/normal | 64.2 | 59.5 | 68.3 | 61.5 | 0.63 |
| Overweight/obese | 35.8 | 40.5 | 31.7 | 38.5 | |
| Parity (incl. the index child) in % | |||||
| 0 | 47.3 | 18.0 | 46.2 | 38.8 | <0.01 |
| 1 | 36.9 | 34.6 | 34.9 | 32.7 | |
| 2+ | 15.7 | 47.4 | 18.9 | 28.6 | |
| Smoking during pregnancy in % | |||||
| never | 76.3 | 70.4 | 76.2 | 76.9 | 0.82 |
| rarely (once a month or less) | 5.2 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 5.8 | |
| several times a week or daily | 18.5 | 23.2 | 16.8 | 17.4 | |
| Gestational weight gain (kg): mean (SD) | 14.3 (5.4) | 12.5 (5.2) | 15.2 (5.9) | 14.0 (5.6) | 0.01** |
| Adequacy of GWG (IOM) in % | |||||
| <ideal weight gain | 19.4 | 36.1 | 12.1 | 17.7 | <0.01 |
| ideal weight gain | 36.1 | 38.9 | 42.4 | 30.6 | |
| >ideal weight gain | 44.5 | 25.0 | 45.5 | 51.8 | |
| Gestational diabetes in % | 4.5 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 0.99 |
| Age of mother at birth (years): mean (SD) | 29.8 (5.1) | 27.5 (5.2) | 26.7 (5.4) | 28.4 (5.7) | <0.01 |
| Child's birth characteristics | |||||
| Gestational age (weeks): mean (SD) | 39.2 (1.6) | 39.3 (1.7) | 39.4 (1.6) | 39.0 (1.7) | 0.60 |
| Birth weight (g): mean (SD) | 3508 (466.8) | 3451 (427.0) | 3524 (476.6) | 3404 (443.3) | 0.19 |
| Birth height (cm): mean (SD) | 52.1 (2.4) | 51.8 (2.3) | 52.3 (2.7) | 51.3 (3.0) | 0.03* |
| Birth weight category in % | |||||
| <3000 g | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.7 | 15.3 | 0.66 |
| 3000–4000 g | 76.0 | 78.3 | 76.6 | 75.8 | |
| >4000 g | 12.9 | 10.4 | 13.8 | 8.9 | |
| Duration of exclusive breastfeeding in % | |||||
| Never | 10.7 | 11.9 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 0.15 |
| ≤3 months | 42.3 | 47.5 | 45.6 | 34.5 | |
| 4–5 months | 19.2 | 13.9 | 25.0 | 26.6 | |
| ≥6 months | 27.9 | 26.7 | 18.4 | 29.2 | |
| Height of mother (cm): mean (SD) | 168.3 (7.6) | 162.3 (5.3) | 165.0 (7.3) | 165.1 (7.1) | <0.01 |
| Height of father (cm): mean (SD) | 182.2 (7.3) | 172.9 (5.4) | 178.3 (6.6) | 175.7 (7.3) | <0.01 |
*
p-value from global F-Test (ANOVA) for continuous variables, chi-square test for categorical variables.
**
Scheffé test: Gestational weight gain differs between Turkey and Eastern Europe (p<0.05).
Birth height differs between Eastern Europe and Other (p<0.05).
Age of mother at birth different for all migrant groups compared to Germans (p<0.05).