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Show Women's and Children's Health Low Birth Weight Compiled by Sally Bums 2000 Low Birth Weight Prevalence: 6.6% Low Birth Weight (LBW) is defined as any child weighing less than 2500 grams at birth. In observing LBW trends, it is important to consider factors that increase the risks of LBW as well as measures of LBW outcome. Low Birth Weight is an important issue in public health. Long-term costs associated with related medical problems are high. Infants born with a weight between 1500 and 2500 grams have medical costs that are 6 times higher than babies born at a weight above 2500 grams. Babies born at less than 1500 grams have costs that are estimated to be 85 times higher than those bom with normal birth weight. LBW also dramatically increases the risk of retarded cognitive and physical development, and is implicated in the majority of infant deaths. Nationally, several risk factors have been identified for LBW. A mother is more likely to have a LBW infant if she is an adolescent, is less well educated, uses tobacco, or receives inadequate prenatal care. Studies have found several ways to reduce the incidence of LBW, including individualized prenatal care, nutrition counseling, health education, stress reduction, social support, and initial and ongoing risk assessment. Table 1 suggests a prenatal paradox in Utah. Utah's incidence of LBW is much lower than the national average. At the same time, it has shown a declining rate of mothers receiving prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy (Figure 1). The Healthy People 2010 national goals for these health indicators are less than 5% LBW, greater than 90% prenatal care in the first trimester, and less than 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. As the data indicate, Utah's incidence of LBW has shown a generally increasing trend, along with a decreasing trend for medical care provided in the first trimester of pregnancy. Table 1. Low Birth Weight and Adequacy of Prenatal Care, % of Live Births, Utah and U.S., 1970-2000. Prevalence of LBW Adequate Prenatal Care (% of live births) (% of live births) Year Utah U.S. Utah U.S. 1980 5.2 6.8 N/A N/A 1981 5.3 6.8 N/A N/A 1982 5.6 6.8 N/A N/A 1983 5.6 6.8 N/A N/A 1984 5.6 6.7 N/A N/A 1985 5.7 6.8 N/A N/A 1986 5.4 6.8 N/A N/A 1987 5.7 6.9 N/A N/A 1988 5.7 6.9 N/A N/A 1989 5.7 7.1 82.0 75.8 1990 5.7 7.0 81.2 75.8 1991 6.0 7.1 81.7 76.2 1992 5.6 7.1 84.1 7.7 1993 6.0 7.2 85.1 78.9 1994 5.9 7.3 85.2 80.2 1995 6.3 7.3 83.8 81.3 1996 6.6 7.4 83.3 81.9 1997 6.6 7.5 82.9 82.5 1998 6.8 7.2 79.7 82.8 1999 7.0 7.6 76.6 83.2 2000 6.0 7.6 77.1 83.2 2001 6.6 7.6 78.2 83.2 Figure 1. Low Birth Weight and Adequacy of Prenatal Care, % of Live Births, Utah and U.S., 1970-2001. ?-----•-----?- „_¦ ? ? • 1----1 86.0 84.0 82.0 80.0 78.0 76.0 74.0 72.0 70.0 198919901991 1992 19931994199519961997 19981999 2000 2001 Year Utah (Left Scale) U.S. (Left Scale) Utah (Right Scale) U.S.(Right Scale) Sources: Utah Department of Health: Indicator based Information System for Public Health [Online] 104 Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume LX |