Office of Health Statistics Analysis, National Center for Health Statistics, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 20201, Washington, D.C..
Demography. 1969 Nov;6(4):425-33. doi: 10.2307/2060087.
The physical development of the live born infant is the single most important variable governing its survival: infant mortality among those weighing 2,500 grams (5 1/2 pounds) or less at birth is 17 times the mortality among those weighing more than 2,500 grams at birth. The variation in mortality according to birth weight (or gestation) is greater than for subclasses of color, sex, maternal age, or birth order. Infant mortality in the United States is significantly higher than in a number of other countries e.g., Sweden, Netherlands, Norway. The difference is thought, by some, to be due to underregistration of low birth weight infants in other countries. In this paper, distributions of live births by birth weight for Denmark, England and Wales, New Zealand, and the United States, and infant mortality data for Denmark and the United States are examined. The data do not support a hypothesis of gross underregistration of live born infants in other countries. The results indicate that some index of physical development (birth weight, gestation, or a combination of both) should be included in any appraisal of infant mortality.
出生体重为 2500 克（5 磅 11 盎司）或以下的婴儿死亡率是出生体重超过 2500 克的婴儿死亡率的 17 倍。根据出生体重（或胎龄）的死亡率差异大于按肤色、性别、母亲年龄或出生顺序划分的差异。美国的婴儿死亡率明显高于其他一些国家，如瑞典、荷兰、挪威。有人认为，这种差异是由于其他国家对低出生体重婴儿的登记不足造成的。本文对丹麦、英格兰和威尔士、新西兰和美国的活产儿出生体重分布以及丹麦和美国的婴儿死亡率数据进行了研究。这些数据不支持其他国家对活产儿大量漏报的假设。结果表明，在任何对婴儿死亡率的评估中，都应包含身体发育的某种指标（出生体重、胎龄或两者的结合）。
