Low birthweight babies

The low birthweight of a baby(a) can be dangerous or life-threatening to the newborn.Current research also suggests that problems can continue into childhood, with low birthweight babies performing less well at school and being pre-disposed to a greater risk of serious problems into adulthood such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and epilepsy(b).

Lifestyle and family history factors such as smoking, poor nutrition and alcohol consumption can impact on the birth weight of a baby, as can stress on the mother. The age of the mother can also affect the birth weight with both young and older mothers more likely to have low birthweight babies(b).

In Adelaide, the proportion of low birthweight is greater in the more disadvantaged areas(c) with the highest proportions located in the inner north and north-western suburbs as well as the outer north and some southern areas.

In both the Adelaide Statistical Division and the City of Onkaparinga, 7% of babies are born with a low birthweight. Within the City of Onkaparinga, Onkaparinga-North Coast has the highest rate of low birthweight (9.1%) and Onkaparinga-South Coast the lowest rate (5.9%)(d).

Low birthweight babies, 1995-1997

Source

Department of Health, Government of South Australia, ‘Inequality in South Australia’, Key Determinants of Wellbeing, Volume 1: The Evidence 2004

Source

Department of Health, Government of South Australia, ‘Inequality in South Australia’, Key Determinants of Wellbeing, Volume 1: The Evidence 2004

1	Onkaparinga - South Coast	5	Onkaparinga - North Coast
2	Onkaparinga - Woodcroft	6	Onkaparinga - Hackham
3	Onkaparinga - Reservoir	7	Onkaparinga - Morphett
4	Onkaparinga - Hills

(a)	A low birthweight baby are categorised as weighing 2,500 grams or less. An infant may be small for two reasons - Premature or pre-term or ‘small for date’ babies born around expected due date but for some reason have not grown as big as expected
(b)	University of Western Australia, UWA Researchers study risks for low birth weight infants(website ww.uwa.edu.au/media/statements/2001/03/)
(c)	Department of Health, Government of South Australia, ‘Inequality in South Australia’, Key Determinants of Wellbeing, Volume 1: The Evidence 2004, pp 61.
(d)	See map below