National trends in birth weight: implications for future adult disease

Abstract

In Scotland birth weight is reported on Scottish Maternity Records (SMR2) and collated by the Scottish Health Service Common Services Agency. The agency provided information on birth weights of liveborn infants since 1975. For England and Wales, routinely collected data on live births were obtained from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys since 1983, when records were considered to be complete.2