A comparative study of army and civilian babies in a UK garrison town.

Army families in the UK have been observed to have a higher infant mortality compared with the civilian population. Little is known about the reasons for the higher mortality. We report a comparative study of the health of army and civilian babies and their families in a UK garrison town, the aim being to investigate any differences in risk factors which may have explained the differences in mortality. A total of 250 first born army and civilian babies fulfilling the selection criteria were recruited to the study. Army babies had a lower birth weight distribution and both maternal and paternal smoking rates were higher in army families. In addition, social support and in particular, contact with close family members appeared to be available to fewer army mothers. The study highlighted the needs of this population and prompted a number of local health services to work together to address the issues it raised.