All Ireland Traveller Health Study Our Geels - Department of Health ...

Health Survey Findings
SECTION B1: Child Health
(All Children)
Information was collected on 1,388 children in ROI: 521 were 5 years old, 399 were 9 years old and 460
were 14 years old. In NI, information was collected on 185 children: 61 were 5 years old, 65 were 9 years
old and 57 were 14 years old. It should be noted, when interpreting the tables, that two respondents
did not specify the chosen child’s gender. Therefore the sample size for the total group is larger than
that of the sum of the sex-specific groups.
A majority (64.6% ROI and 55.7% NI) of both male and female children was reported as weighing
between 3 and 4 kg at birth. Older children tended to have been relatively lighter at birth.
Table 66: What was your child’s weight at birth? (Questionnaire item B1_1_1)
4500g n
Total ROI 6.1% 14.1% 33.6% 30.9% 11.0% 4.3% 1,223
NI 4.5% 21.7% 31.8% 28.0% 10.8% 3.2% 157
Male ROI 5.4% 12.2% 34.2% 31.1% 11.5% 5.6% 591
NI 3.6% 18.1% 31.3% 27.7% 14.5% 4.8% 83
Female ROI 6.5% 15.8% 33.6% 30.1% 10.8% 3.3% 602
NI 4.2% 25.4% 32.4% 29.6% 7.0% 1.4% 171
5-year old ROI 5.2% 15.3% 38.4% 27.9% 9.9% 3.2% 463
NI 3.8% 18.9% 32.1% 32.1% 13.2% 0.0% 53
9-year old ROI 6.2% 11.9% 33.2% 32.1% 11.9% 4.5% 352
NI 3.6% 30.2% 26.8% 21.4% 8.9% 8.9% 56
14-year old ROI 6.8% 14.5% 28.4% 33.3% 11.5% 5.4% 408
NI 3.9% 21.9% 31.6% 28.4% 11.0% 0.0% 46
Most children (56.9% ROI and 65.9% NI) were born during term period of 37-41 weeks, a pattern similar
according to age and sex in both jurisdictions.
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