Abstract
This report explores the low birth weight paradox using two graphical approaches: causal directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), and the empirical curves of the birth weight distribution and birth weight-specific mortality. The birth weight curves are able to represent the associations quantitatively, while the corresponding causal DAGs provide a set of plausible explanations for the findings. Taken together, these two approaches can facilitate discussion of underlying biological mechanisms.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by NIH grant R01-HL080644, and by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH.
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Hernández-Díaz, S., Wilcox, A.J., Schisterman, E.F. et al. From causal diagrams to birth weight-specific curves of infant mortality. Eur J Epidemiol 23, 163–166 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-007-9220-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-007-9220-4