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How To... - Interpret Data - Case Studies - Low
Birthweight
Who and When: Is low birthweight prevalence increasing or decreasing among
racial and ethnic groups over time?
In addition to knowing who is at risk it is also helpful to determine
how low birthweight prevalences have changed by race and ethnicity over
time. The PNSS Table 23C, Summary of Trends in Infant Health Indicators by
Race/Ethnicity, provides low birthweight trends for the most recent 10
years by race and ethnicity.
Sample: PNSS Table 23C, Summary of Trends in Infant Health Indicators by
Race/Ethnicity
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This table shows the 10 most recent years of data. |
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The prevalence of low birthweight is the highest for
black infants compared to other racial and ethnic groups and it has
remained the highest during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002. |
This line chart, derived from Table 23C, shows that the prevalence of
low birthweight has remained stable for all race/ethnic groups from
1993 to 2002. Prevalence of low birthweight has been highest among black infants and the lowest among
Hispanic infants.
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Trends in the prevalence of low birthweight*
by race and ethnicity
* Low Birthweight includes VLBW < 1500 g and LBW =
1500-<2500 g. |
Who and When: Is low birthweight prevalence increasing or decreasing among
racial and ethnic groups over time?
The prevalence of low birthweight has remained stable for all racial
and ethnic groups from 1993 to 2002, indicating that there has been very
little improvement in the prevalence of low birthweight during this time.
Summary
Despite the modest improvement in the state prevalence of low
birthweight from 1993 to 2002, the low birthweight prevalence of 7.7% is
still much higher than the Healthy People 2010 target of 5.0
percent so it is considered a health problem. The highest prevalence of
low birthweight is for black infants and the lowest prevalence is for
Hispanic infants. However, the trend for all racial and ethnic groups has
remained stable from 1993 to 2002 indicating very little improvement of
low birthweight in the state. This analysis of low birthweight showed that
the race/ethnicity and age of the mother, her prepregnancy weight, weight
gain during pregnancy, and smoking during pregnancy are associated with
the prevalence of low birthweight infants. Of these demographic or health
indicators, promotion of adequate weight gain and smoking cessation during
pregnancy are appropriate interventions for the WIC program. Each of these
health indicators can be impacted during pregnancy, particularly in
mothers who enter care in the first trimester.
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