Child Health in the Province of Ontario: Establishing baselines for reproductive health and vaccine preventable diseases

Abstract

This thesis was an investigation of child health in the province of Ontario through the lens of reproductive health, and vaccine preventable diseases (VPD). Two studies were conducted; the first examined the association between pre-pregnancy BMI and the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and gestational hypertension (GH) in a rural Southern Ontario community hospital. In multivariable logistic regression, pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly associated with the risk of developing both GDM and GH. The second study examined immunization compliance for measles, mumps, and rubella among children seven years of age residing in the city of Guelph. A significant difference was identified in overall immunization compliance to National Advisory Committee on Immunization Standards (NACI) between the city of Guelph’s priority neighbourhoods, and non-priority neighbourhoods. These findings will aid in identifying populations at risk for the development of poor child health outcomes, for whom public health initiatives should be targeted.