Does Child Opportunity Indices (COI) Predict Birth Weight?

Socioeconomic disadvantages, even at the neighborhood level can exacerbate health outcomes at all levels of life and contribute to pervasive health disparities. Issues concerning health at and before birth can impact development well into adulthood and lead to chronic health conditions. There are significant external factors at play in the prenatal stages of life. Using Child Opportunity Index (COI) and medical records of pregnant individuals this current study explores how child opportunity indices encompassing, educational, health, environmental, and socioeconomic opportunity during pregnancy associate with birth weight outcomes. Birth weight being an important indicator for many infant health outcomes with long-lasting consequences throughout development and into adulthood. Observing that COI does have an impact on birth weight even when accounting for other factors. Hopefully, this study will enable those in the fields of psychological, health, and public policy research to further this investigation and better understand the systemic effects on health. With the hopes that one day, with increased research and awareness, there will be greater consideration and change in how resources and healthcare are administered and distributed to bridge the gaps in health outcomes due to systemic inequalities.