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
| year |
value
Min
Max
|
|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 2000 | 17.17677181 |
| 2001 | 17.17616245 |
| 2002 | 17.15690053 |
| 2003 | 17.11680143 |
| 2004 | 17.05776765 |
| 2005 | 16.97958025 |
| 2006 | 16.91046577 |
| 2007 | 16.8488708 |
| 2008 | 16.78825359 |
| 2009 | 16.75032076 |
| 2010 | 16.70265985 |
| 2011 | 16.6618405 |
| 2012 | 16.63272864 |
| 2013 | 16.6097749 |
| 2014 | 16.60283462 |
| 2015 | 16.60022472 |
| 2016 | 16.61643655 |
| 2017 | 16.62769864 |
| 2018 | 16.63319905 |
| 2019 | 16.63758315 |
| 2020 | 16.63838895 |
| 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