Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Low Birth Weight by Year, among Term Singletons, New Jersey and the United States, 2000 to 2022
Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
Low birth weight (LBW) increases the risk for infant morbidity and mortality. LBW infants are at greater risk of dying in the first month of life. LBW infants may require intensive care at birth and are at higher risk of developmental disabilities and chronic illnesses throughout life. They are more likely to require special education services. Health care costs and length of hospital stay are higher for LBW infants.
Definition
Percent of live births with a birth weight of less than 2,500 grams (approximately 5 lbs, 8 oz).
Data Notes
Full term births are those with a gestational age of 37 or more weeks. In 2014, NCHS changed the standard for gestational period from the Last Menstrual Period (LMP) based gestational age to the Obstetric/clinical Estimate (OE) based gestational age. Obstetric/clinical Estimate (OE) based gestational age groups for U.S. data are available only for years 2007 and later. Refer to [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_05.pdf Measuring Gestational Age in Vital Statistics Data: Transitioning to the Obstetric Estimate] for more information. Confidence limits are not available for the U.S. data. This is Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Indicator RBO-14.Data Sources
- Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
(https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/) - Natality public-use data, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(https://wonder.cdc.gov/natality.html)
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator:
Number of full term singleton live births with a birth weight of less than 2,500 gramsDenominator:
Number of full term singleton live births
Related Health Objectives and Indicators
Health Initiative: HP2020
Healthy People 2020 Objective MICH-8.1
U.S. Target: Reduce low birth weight (LBW) to 7.8 percent of live births by 2020.0
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/maternal-infant-and-child-health
Health Initiative: HNJ2020
Healthy NJ 2020 Objective MCH-2a
NJ Target: Reduce low birth weight to 7.7 percent for the total population, 7.9% for Asians, 12.4% for Blacks, 7.1% for Hispanics, and 6.0% for Whites by 2020.0
https://www.nj.gov/health/chs/hnj2020/topics/maternal-child-health.shtml
Health Initiative: EPHT
Environmental Public Health Tracking Indicator RBO-14
Description: Low (< 2500 grams) and very low (< 1500 grams) birth weight among singleton births
https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/indicatorPages?selectedContentAreaAbbreviation=8&selectedIndicatorId=14