Table 1

Descriptive statistics and bivariate associations between each covariate and low birth weight among Arab ethnicity and non-Arab white mothers in Michigan between 2000 and 2005

	Arab ethnicity					Non-Arab white
				LBW					LBW
Mother/infant descriptives	N	%	N	%	p Value	N	%	N	%	p Value
Total	21 617		1410	6.5		594 419		40 519	6.8
Dearborn					0.004					0.108
No	15 009	69.4	1027	6.8		590 436	99.3	40 273	6.8
Yes	6608	30.6	383	5.8		3983	0.7	246	6.2
48126 zip code					<0.001					0.366
No	16 286	75.3	1118	6.9		593 403	99.8	40 457	6.8
Yes	5331	25.7	292	5.5		1016	0.2	62	6.1
Parity					<0.001					<0.001
0	7398	34.2	556	7.5		234 142	39.4	17 205	7.4
1	6166	28.5	381	6.2		198 913	33.5	11 760	5.9
2	4147	19.2	240	5.8		101 618	17.1	6606	6.5
3+	3769	17.4	223	5.9		58 350	9.8	4794	8.2
Unknown	137	0.6	10	7.3		1396	0.2	154	11
Marital status					0.552					<0.001
Unmarried	885	4.1	62	7.0		164 803	27.7	13 670	8.3
Married	20 732	95.9	1348	6.5		429 616	72.3	26 849	6.3
Maternal age					<0.001					<0.001
<20	1211	5.6	102	8.4		48 660	8.2	4049	8.3
20–25	5333	24.7	321	6.0		136 788	23.0	9109	6.7
26–30	6646	30.8	396	6.0		171 770	28.9	10 639	6.2
31–35	5236	24.2	346	6.6		155 051	26.1	10 050	6.5
36–40	2541	11.7	183	7.2		68211	11.5	5308	7.8
41+	649	3.0	62	9.6		13 898	2.3	1353	9.7
Unknown	1	0.0	0	0.0		41	0.0	11	0.0
Education					0.136					<0.001
<11 years	4722	21.8	331	7.0		86 481	14.6	7250	8.4
GED^* or equivalent	7359	34.0	449	6.1		184 321	31.0	12 984	7.0
College	6721	31.1	452	6.7		248 870	41.9	15 341	6.2
Masters or above	2107	9.8	142	6.7		66 431	11.2	4176	6.3
Unknown	708	3.3	36	5.1		8316	1.4	768	9.2
Place of birth					0.034					<0.001
Foreign	17 439	80.7	1107	6.4		44 372	7.5	2643	6.0
USA	4178	19.3	303	7.3		550 047	92.5	37 876	6.9
Tobacco use					0.411					<0.001
None	20 520	94.9	1345	6.6		492 343	82.8	30 179	6.1
Yes	1097	5.1	65	5.9		102 076	17.2	10 340	10.1

↵* The General Educational Development examination is a five-part examination that certifies that the taker has academic skills commensurate with a high school graduate in the USA or Canada.
LBW, low birth weight.