Low Birth Weight

Low birth weight describes the babies who have been born weighing less than 2,500 grams (8 ounces, 5 pounds). The current situation in the US is that more than 8% of all the babies who are being born have low birth weight (Hao, Strosnider, Balluz & Qualters, 2016). There is concern in relation to the state of the very small babies as the current situation is that the numbers are going up in the US. The main contributor of these small babies is the huge multiples of the babies who are most likely going to be born early and consequently weighing less. The babies with a low birth weight appear much smaller than is the case with the other babies with the normal birth weight (Chang, Sung, Wang, Lung, Chang, Hsu, & Hung, 2015).

The reason as to why the issue of low birth weight is a concern is due to the fact that these babies are at major risks for complications. The tiny bodies that these babies have are not as strong and the baby could have difficulties in eating, gaining weight as well as fighting infections (Thi, Khanh, Thu, Thomas, Lee, & Russell, 2015).

            The main causes the low birth weight include the babies that are born prematurely, in the cases of twins or more as well as if the baby has inherited medical conditions from the parents. Placenta problems as the pre-eclampsia which reduced the flow of blood to the body as well as if the mother had high blood pressure during pregnancy additionally cause the low birth weight (Maruyama,  Yonemoto, Kono, Kusuda, Fujimura, & null, 2015).

The data that is to be applied in assessing the problem includes the number of low weight babies being born in a certain period, the percentage of low birth weight, the percentage born very low birth weight, the number of preterm births as well as the percentage born preterm (Fochi, et al., 2015). The importance of this data is the fact that it makes it possible to assess the prevalence of the condition as well as the growth rates to inform the stakeholders on the need for necessary interventions (Ngwira & Stanley, 2015).

The SPSS statistical package is the preferable tool to apply in an analysis of this kind of data.

References

Chang, H., Sung, Y., Wang, S., Lung, H., Chang, J., Hsu, C., & ... Hung, H. (2015). Short- and Long-Term Outcomes in Very Low Birth Weight Infants with Admission Hypothermia. Plos ONE, 10(7), 1-10. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131976

Fochi, M. L., Baring, S., Spegiorin, L. F., Vaz-Oliani, D. M., Galão, E. A., Oliani, A. H., & ... de Mattos, C. B. (2015). Prematurity and Low Birth Weight did not Correlate with Anti-Toxoplasma gondii Maternal Serum Profiles – a Brazilian Report. Plos ONE, 10(7), 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132719

Hao, Y., Strosnider, H., Balluz, L., & Qualters, J. R. (2016). Geographic Variation in the Association between Ambient Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Term Low Birth Weight in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(2), 250-255. doi:10.1289/ehp.1408798.

Maruyama, H., Yonemoto, N., Kono, Y., Kusuda, S., Fujimura, M., & null, n. (2015). Weight Growth Velocity and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants. Plos ONE, 10(9), 1-12. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139014

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in legitimate paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for custom college essay services.