Secular birth weight changes in liveborn infants before, during, and after 1991-1995 homeland war in Croatia.

Aim: To assess secular trends in birth weights of liveborn infants in Croatia from 1983 to 2003.

Methods: Of a total of 959,591 liveborn infants in the study period, 384,367 were born in the prewar (1983-1989), 226,226 during the war (1991-1995), and 348 998 in the postwar (1996-2003) period. The birth weight of liveborn infants was assessed by 500 g weight groups on the basis of data provided by the Croatian National Institute of Public Health.