@article{Fishman_43_31,
author = {Fishman, Samuel},
title={{An extended evaluation of the weathering hypothesis for birthweight}},
journal = {Demographic Research},
volume = {43},
number = {31},
pages = {929--968},
doi = {10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.31},
year = {2020},
abstract = {Background: Prior weathering research finds that US-born Black women experience more rapidly deteriorating birthweight outcomes at older ages than US-born White women. 

Objective: The present study extends this literature by evaluating maternal age–birthweight associations across a variety of racial/ethnic-nativity groups. 

Methods: Race/ethnicity-nativity stratified average marginal effects of maternal age on low and very low birthweight are estimated using data from 2014 through 2018 US cohort natality files. 

Results: Older maternal ages at birth are associated with higher probabilities of low and very low birthweight for most racial/ethnic-nativity groups. Consistent with the weathering hypothesis, birth at older maternal ages (e.g., 30‒34 or 40+) is more predictive of low and very low birthweight for US-born Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and US-born Mexican American women than for US-born Whites. In contrast, some foreign-born populations exhibit relatively weak relationships between maternal age and low birthweight, suggesting the role of healthy immigrant selection. 

Contribution: Some disadvantaged racial/ethnic-nativity groups ‒ US-born Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and US-born Mexican American women ‒ exhibit more rapid increases in the risk of low birthweight at older maternal ages than US-born White women. These patterns are consistent with the weathering hypothesis. Future research may benefit from using linked family data and sibling modeling approaches to estimate causal models of weathering. },
URL = {https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol43/31/},
eprint = {https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol43/31/43-31.pdf}
}