CDC: low birthweight rate increased from 2014 to 2016

(HealthDay)—From 2014 to 2016 there was an increase in the singleton low birthweight rate, which was mainly due to increases in the rate of moderately low birthweight, according to a March data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Lindsay S. Womack, Ph.D., from the NCHS in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues used data from the National Vital Statistics System to examine singleton low birthweight rates by race and Hispanic origin from 2006 to 2016.

The researchers found that the singleton low birthweight (<2,500 g) rate declined from 2006 to 2014 (6.49 to 6.24 percent) and then increased in 2015 (6.34 percent) and 2016 (6.44 percent). The recent increase reflects an increase in the rate of moderately low birthweight (1,500 to 2,499 g); during 2014 to 2016 the rate of very low birthweight (<1,500 g) was stable. From 2014 to 2016, the low and moderately low birthweight rates increased for each race and Hispanic-origin group. From 2006 to 2016, the rate of singleton low birthweight was more than twice as high for non-Hispanic black versus non-Hispanic white infants.

"For each race and Hispanic-origin group, the increases in singleton low birthweight were primarily driven by increases in MLBW moderately low birthweight births," the authors write.

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