Singleton Low Birthweight Rates, by Race and Hispanic Origin: United States, 2006-2016.

Low birthweight (LBW) is among the leading causes of infant death in the United States (1). LBW infants are also more likely to have health problems (2). After reaching its highest level in four decades, the LBW rate among all births declined from 2006 to 2014 (3,4), but the trend reversed in 2015 and 2016 when the LBW rate increased (4), moving further away from the Healthy People 2020 goal of reducing LBW rates to 7.8% of live births (5). This report shows trends in LBW, moderately low birthweight (MLBW), and very low birthweight (VLBW) by race and Hispanic origin from 2006 to 2016 for singleton births only, as rates of multiple births can impact LBW rates (4,6).