Low birth weights worsen

from the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Report on kids: Rate of underweight babies at highest mark in 40 years, and more children live in poverty.

The percentage of underweight babies born in the United States has increased to its highest rate in 40 years, with Georgia ranking seventh from the bottom in delivering healthy infants, according to a new report that also documents a recent rise in the number of children living in poverty.

The data on low birth weights is troubling because such babies —- those born at less than 5.5 pounds —- are at greater risk of dying in infancy or experiencing long-term disabilities.

The findings are being released today in the annual Kids Count report on the health and well-being of America's youth, which measures the states in 10 categories.

The number of underweight babies born in Georgia increased by 10 percent from 2000 to 2005, the study found. The state ranks near the bottom of four other measures: Sixth-worst of the 50 states in the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, eighth-worst in teen births, ninth-worst in infant mortality and 10th-worst in high-school dropouts.

The figures indicate a reversal in the positive trends found in the late 1990s, said Laura Beavers, coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.

"Some of the indicators appear to be getting worse [in Georgia]," Beavers said, noting a rise in child poverty.

Georgia's rate increased by 11 percent —- from 18 percent to 20 percent —- between 2000 and 2006, 2 percentage points above the national average. Beavers said that number is expected to rise again next year.

"The impact of the decline in the housing market doesn't show up in this study," Beavers said.

Not all the news was negative, including a 44 percent decline in the high school dropout rate, from 16 percent in 2000 to 9 percent in 2006. That's still 2 percentage points above the national average.

The drop wasn't as dramatic in child deaths —- from 25 per 100,000 in 2000 to 22 per 100,000 in 2006 —- though that figure accounted for Georgia's best national ranking: 27th.

Overall, the state ranked 40th, and its trends mirrored the nation's, with setbacks in some areas obscuring progress in others.

"Well-being indicators have largely gotten better for teens, and they've gotten worse for babies," Beavers said.

The report documented improvements in the child death rate, teen death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, and teens not in school and not working.

There was no change in the infant mortality rate, while four areas worsened: low-birth-weight babies, children living in homes with jobless or underemployed parents, children in poverty, and children in single-parent families.

In composite rankings for all 10 indicators, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah ranked the highest, while Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama and South Carolina ranked the lowest.

Beavers noted that in many categories, the United States compares poorly with other developed countries. A recent study released by UNICEF ranked the United States second-worst out of 33 industrialized nations in a composite index on child well-being, and it was 29th in regard to the percentage of babies with low birth weights.

According to Kids Count, the latest available federal data, from 2005, showed that 8.2 percent of U.S. babies were born at low birth weight, a level not seen since 1968.

The infant mortality rate in Georgia last year was 8.3 per 1,000 live births, according to figures from the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

African-American babies are about twice as likely to die than white infants born in Georgia.

Babies with birth weights under 5.5 pounds account for more than two-thirds of Georgia's infant deaths.

Beavers said part of the overall increase in low-birth-weight babies was due to a rise in multiple births as more older women use fertility treatments to conceive. But she said the birth-weight problem also has been worsening for single-baby deliveries.

The rate of low-weight births is sharply higher for blacks (13.6 percent) than for whites (7.3 percent) or Hispanics (6.9 percent). One important factor, Beavers said, is the mother's overall health at the time of pregnancy and her access to good prenatal care.