| ■ More Underweight Babies Being Born in U.S. | 2008.06.16 |
| The percentage of underweight babies born in the United States in 2005 was 8.2 percent, the highest level since 1968, says the annual Kids Count report released Thursday. Mississippi had the highest rate (11.8 percent), while Alaska, Oregon and Washington had the lowest rate (6.1 percent). The rate of low-weight births was 13.6 percent for blacks, 7.3 percent for whites, and 6.9 percent for Hispanics, the Associated Press reported. Low-birthweight babies (weighing less than 5.5 pounds) are at increased risk of dying in infancy or having long-term disabilities. The nationwide rise in low-weight births was due to an increase in multiple births as more older women use fertility treatments to conceive, said Laura Beavers, coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, the AP reported. The Kids Count report examined 10 categories of children's health and well-being, finding that New Hampshire, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah ranked highest overall, while Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama and South Carolina ranked lowest. There were nationwide improvements in the child death rate, teen death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, and teens not in school and not working. Four areas worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in poverty, children in single-parent families, and children living with unemployed parents. |