Bawah A.Lartey, N.KUniversity of Ghana: College of Health Sciences - School of Public Health2016-11-222017-10-142016-11-222017-10-142015-11http://197.255.68.203/handle/123456789/8992Thesis (MPH) University of Ghana-2015Globally, low birth weights (LBW) remains a leading cause of neonatal deaths; and in Ghana, the incidence of LBW infants was estimated at 160 per 1000 births by the WHO in 2011. The estimated annual LBW prevalence was 9.2% which is higher than many other part of the world. This dire fact is a source of concern for the nation’s social, economic and public health sector as LBW has life-course repercussions on the health and socio-economic outcomes of the LBW child and the development of the nation. This study sought to find the determinants of LBW among women attending postnatal care in public hospitals located in the Accra metropolis of Greater Accra. A descriptive, cross-sectional approach which involved the use of structured questionnaires was used to collect quantitative data from 249 women at Maamobi, Ridge and Achimota hospitals of Greater Accra. Cross-tabulations and bivariate analyses to show associations between LBW and socio-demographics were performed. Socio-demographic, nutritional and lifestyle factors that were significantly associated with LBW prevalence were determined by multivariate analysis. All statistical analyses were performed on STATA version 13.0, and the significance of all associations/relationships was assessed at p<0.05. The study found that LBW prevalence was 7.23% among participants, and mother’s age, religious affiliation, employment status, marital status, education and parity were significantly associated with LBW in bivariate analyses. The means of cooking and having variety of meals daily during pregnancy were also associated with LBW at bivariate level. Eating home cooked meals often [AOR= 0.058; 95% CI= 0.011 - 0.309] was significantly associated with LBW, just as taking leisure time while pregnant [AOR=1.33; 95% CI= 0.026 - 0.678]. Smoking and drinking (without adjusting for quantity) were however not associated at multivariate level with LBW. This study concludes that having leisure during pregnancy, and eating home-cooked meal more frequently were major determinants of low birth weight among women in the Accra metropolis of Greater Accra region. Further this study recommends that educating mothers on beneficial lifestyle and nutritional modifications would help to reduce the incidence of LBW. Key-ii-xiii:P71enDETERMINANTSLOW BIRTHWEIGHTGREATER ACCRA REGIONGHANAMATERNAL NUTRITIONThesis