Increasing prevalence of macrosomia in Flanders, Belgium: an indicator of population health and a burden for the future

Macrosomia, defined as birth weight > 4 kg, increased in Flanders from 7.3% (4899/67143) in 1991 to 8.63% (6034/69924) in 2010 (p < 0.0001) in singleton pregnancies at term. There are at least 3 important factors contributing to this evolution. (1) Increase of maternal stature and length: during the last century, mean length ofBelgian women increased with approximately 10cm to the current value of 1.66m.(2)Increase ofmaternal age:theproportionofpregnantwomenaged35 years ormore increasedsignificantly from 6.1% in 1991 to 14.3% in 2010. (3)Increase of maternal overweight or obesity: betwee... Mehr ...