South Africa | 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
Republic of South Africa
Records
63
Source
South Africa | Low-birthweight babies (% of births)
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
17.17677181 2000
17.17616245 2001
17.15690053 2002
17.11680143 2003
17.05776765 2004
16.97958025 2005
16.91046577 2006
16.8488708 2007
16.78825359 2008
16.75032076 2009
16.70265985 2010
16.6618405 2011
16.63272864 2012
16.6097749 2013
16.60283462 2014
16.60022472 2015
16.61643655 2016
16.62769864 2017
16.63319905 2018
16.63758315 2019
16.63838895 2020
2021
2022

South Africa | 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
Republic of South Africa
Records
63
Source