Effects of Household Use of Biomass Fuel and Maternal Smoking on Birth Weight of Babies in the Philippines

A child’s birth weight is an important indicator of the child’s health status. One convincing proof of this is the study by Kotagal (1993) which shows that infants with low birth weight are 40 times more likely to die within the first 28 days of birth than normal birth weight infants. This paper examines the risk factors that increase the likelihood of low birth weight in the Philippines using data from the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), which is designed to assess the demographic and health situation in the country. Using the ordinal logistic regression model, the study establishes that burning of biomass fuel (such as wood and agricultural crop, etc.) and coal for daily use of cooking and heating is a significant environmental risk factor of low birth weight. Use of biomass fuel increases the probability of a newborn’s having small size at birth. Moreover, the results also show that maternal smoking increases the probability of delivering a low birth weight baby. In addition to use of biomass fuel and mother’s smoking, other demographic factors that may be associated with low birth weight are examined as well. These factors and their effects give important information to couples as they seek to reduce the risk of having a baby with low birth weight.