Studies have consistently shown that birthweight decreases steadily with decreasing social status. 25 Figure 1 shows this decrease in birthweight between the most privileged and the most deprived socio-economic groups among babies born in 2000 enrolled in the UK Millenium Cohort Study. Mothers living in the most privileged socio-economic group had an average birthweight 200gm heavier than those living in the most disadvantages households (workless households). Similar differences between privileged and deprived areas have been reported from similarly designed studies in the more prosperous area of West Sussex. 26 A difference of 200gm in birthweight between individual children has little.
