tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617900481067592523.post3638648582178340865..comments2012-05-02T11:27:55.438-04:00Comments on Health and Society: Angela's ResponseJHChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15006595225373347228noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7617900481067592523.post-72977775802121235792012-01-31T21:33:51.119-05:002012-01-31T21:33:51.119-05:00While I believe it is definitely true that there i...While I believe it is definitely true that there is no clear cut explanation for low birth weights, as it is always a combination of factors (social, physical, etc), I do not think the researchers left out the factors such as diet, exercise, and environment. I think some of these can be designated as byproducts of the social factors as explained by Geronimus. If the socioeconomic status of a mother is not strong, then I feel that it can be assumed that the diet and exercise are not at the top of the list of concerns of a person in that position. However, I do think, as Angela stated, that the effects of the environment could have been explored more by the researchers. So much was discussed about the environment of the actual premature babies during childhood, but little was said about the environment of the mother during pregnancy. I think the logical next step is to explore how the social stresses that Geronimus explains affect women in these situations in greater detail - such as monitoring diet, exercise, etc. I feel that this sort of information could shed some light on some of the mysteries of low birth weight as pointed out by Angela. The correlation of low birth weight and future health issues is clearly present, but such a general idea should be fleshed out with more concrete data than what is presented by Conley et al.Nikhil Sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316812441422979388noreply@blogger.com