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Show Low Birth Weight Low birth weight places infants at risk for infant death, illness, and disability. Caring for low birth weight babies can be very costly. Utah's percentage of low birth weight babies has consistently remained lower than the percentage for the U.S. During the reporting period, Utah's highest percentage of low birth weight babies was 6.5% in 1970; its lowest was in 1980 at 5.3%. It then crept up again until 1990. U.S. percentages follow a similar trend. The highest percentage of low birth weight babies for the U.S was in 1970, its lowest percentage was in 1984, and the percentage has risen slightly since then. Table 91 .. Low Birth Weight Utah U.S. Year Total White Black Total White Black 1970 6.5 6.5 12.9 7.9 6.8 13.9 1971 6.2 6.1 9.4 7.7 6.6 13.4 1972 6.0 6.0 11.9 7.7 6.5 13.6 1973 5.5 5.5 14.7 7.6 6.4 13.3 1974 5.3 5.2 17.9 7.4 6.3 13.1 1975 5.3 5.3 13.8 7.4 6.3 13.1 1976 5.4 5.3 14.0 7.3 9.1 13.0 1977 5.2 5.2 13.3 7.1 5.9 12.8 1978 5.6 5.6 7.3 7.1 5.9 12.9 1979 5.6 5.5 11.2 6.9 5.8 12.6 1980 5.3 5.2 9.6 6.8 5.7 12.5 1981 5.4 5.4 8.7 6.8 5.7 11.4 1982 5.6 5.5 11.4 6.8 5.6 11.2 1983 5.6 5.5 10.3 6.8 5.7 12.6 1984 5.6 5.4 10.1 6.7 5.6 12.4 1985 5.7 5.6 10.4 6.8 5.6 12.4 1986 5.4 5.3 9.3 6.8 5.6 12.5 1987 5.7 5.6 10.6 6.9 5.7 12.7 1988 5.7 5.6 11.8 6.9 5.6 13.0 1989 5.7 5.6 10.8 7.0 5.7 13.5 1990 5.7 5.7 12.8 7.0 5.7 13.3 1991 6.0 6.0 14.0 7.1 5.8 13.5 1992 5.6 5.1 5.9 7.0 5.8 13.3 1993 5.9 5.5 6.7 - - - Percentage of birth weights less than 2500 grams. Figure 54 Total Percentage of Low Birth Weight in 2 ffi o 8T-- 7--6-5--4-. 3--2--1 --0-- Utah U.S. 1 1 I I I 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1995 103 |