Europe & Central Asia | Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
Low-birthweight babies are newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, with the measurement taken within the first hour of life, before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred. Development relevance: Low birth-weight, which is associated with maternal malnutrition, raises the risk of infant mortality and stunts growth in infancy and childhood. There is also emerging evidence that low-birth-weight babies are more prone to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Low birth-weight can arise as a result of a baby being born too soon or too small for gestational age. Babies born prematurely, who are also small for their gestational age, have the worst prognosis. In low- and middle-income countries low birth-weight stems primarily from poor maternal health and nutrition. Three factors have the most impact: poor maternal nutritional status before conception, mother's short stature (due mostly to under-nutrition and infections during childhood), and poor nutrition during pregnancy (UNICEF Data, https://data.unicef.org/).
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Europe & Central Asia
Records
63
Source
Europe & Central Asia | Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
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1980
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1984
1985
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1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
8.34307792 2000
8.35879404 2001
8.24265041 2002
8.17097885 2003
8.12099978 2004
8.10286182 2005
8.05708292 2006
7.98542921 2007
7.93354859 2008
7.91823443 2009
7.90374687 2010
7.90188722 2011
7.87779237 2012
7.86103454 2013
7.84424215 2014
7.81593514 2015
7.78786907 2016
7.77312145 2017
7.71779422 2018
7.65379741 2019
7.61541208 2020
2021
2022
Europe & Central Asia | Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
Low-birthweight babies are newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, with the measurement taken within the first hour of life, before significant postnatal weight loss has occurred. Development relevance: Low birth-weight, which is associated with maternal malnutrition, raises the risk of infant mortality and stunts growth in infancy and childhood. There is also emerging evidence that low-birth-weight babies are more prone to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Low birth-weight can arise as a result of a baby being born too soon or too small for gestational age. Babies born prematurely, who are also small for their gestational age, have the worst prognosis. In low- and middle-income countries low birth-weight stems primarily from poor maternal health and nutrition. Three factors have the most impact: poor maternal nutritional status before conception, mother's short stature (due mostly to under-nutrition and infections during childhood), and poor nutrition during pregnancy (UNICEF Data, https://data.unicef.org/).
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
Europe & Central Asia
Records
63
Source