Nutritional Risk Factors for Low Birth Weight in a High-Burden Urban Hospital in Kano State: A Case-Control Study

Low birth weight, defined as a birth weight below 2,500 grams, is a leading indicator of neonatal morbidity and mortality and is closely linked to maternal nutritional status during pregnancy. Despite high rates of low birth weight in Kano State, robust case-control evidence on modifiable nutritional risk factors within this population is limited. This study examines nutritional risk factors for low birth weight at Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, North West Nigeria. A hospital-based unmatched case-control study enrolled 150 cases of singleton live-born low birth weight infants and 300 controls with birth weights at or above 2,500 grams. Maternal dietary data were collected within 48 hours of delivery using a retrospective semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire covering the third trimester of pregnancy. Nutritional predictors assessed included dietary diversity, total energy and protein intake, iron and folic acid supplementation adherence, pre-pregnancy body mass index estimated by recall, gestational weight gain, and haemoglobin concentration at last antenatal visit. Sociodemographic variables, obstetric history, and pregnancy complications were also recorded. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95 percent confidence intervals for each nutritional predictor. The study will identify the most significant nutritional determinants of low birth weight in this high-burden setting, providing an evidence base for targeted prenatal nutrition counselling and supplementation programmes in North West Nigeria. Keywords: low birth weight, nutritional risk factors, case-control, Kano State, maternal nutrition.