ArticleThe Lancet. Global health2019
National, regional, and worldwide estimates of low birthweight in 2015, with trends from 2000: a systematic analysis.
Article in The Lancet. Global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 555 papers, 20 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
555 citing papers in PubMed, 20 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Home visits following hospital discharge for families with preterm and low-birthweight infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Kangaroo Mother Care Is Beneficial for Both Infants and Parents: An Umbrella Review.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Pooled it
- The decline of child stunting in 122 countries: a systematic review of child growth studies since the 19th century.BMJ global health · 2026Pooled it
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- Incidence of mortality and its predictors among low birth weight neonates in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of maternal exposure to heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium) and adverse pregnancy outcomes.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on small vulnerable newborn types in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data.The Lancet. Global health · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of maternal anemia on low-birth-weight in Sub-Sahara African countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Incidence and predictors of mortality among low birth weight neonates in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Nutritional Management of Low Birth Weight and Preterm Infants in Low- and Low Middle-Income Countries.Neonatology · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of COVID-19 mitigation measures on neonatal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Public health · 2025Pooled it
- Association between arsenic exposure and intrauterine growth restriction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Enteral micronutrient supplementation and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm or low birth weight infants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Association between maternal dietary diversity during pregnancy and birth outcomes: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Perinatal outcomes of pregnancies following autologous cryopreserved ovarian tissue transplantation: a systematic review with pooled analysis.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2024Pooled it
- Feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of neonatal anthropometric measurements in identifying low birthweight and preterm infants in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of birth outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.Nature communications · 2024Pooled it
- The developmental origins of suicide mortality: a systematic review of longitudinal studies.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
495 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow birthweight (LBW) of less than 2500 g is an important marker of maternal and fetal health, predicting mortality, stunting, and adult-onset chronic conditions. Global nutrition targets set at the World Health Assembly in 2012 include an ambitious 30% reduction in LBW prevalence between 2012 and 2025. Estimates to track progress towards this target are lacking; with this analysis, we aim to assist in setting a baseline against which to assess progress towards the achievement of the World Health Assembly targets.
methodsWe sought to identify all available LBW input data for livebirths for the years 2000-16. We considered population-based national or nationally representative datasets for inclusion if they contained information on birthweight or LBW prevalence for livebirths. A new method for survey adjustment was developed and used. For 57 countries with higher quality time-series data, we smoothed country-reported trends in birthweight data by use of B-spline regression. For all other countries, we estimated LBW prevalence and trends by use of a restricted maximum likelihood approach with country-level random effects. Uncertainty ranges were obtained through bootstrapping. Results were summed at the regional and worldwide level.
findingsWe collated 1447 country-years of birthweight data (281 million births) for 148 countries of 195 UN member states (47 countries had no data meeting inclusion criteria). The estimated worldwide LBW prevalence in 2015 was 14·6% (uncertainty range [UR] 12·4-17·1) compared with 17·5% (14·1-21·3) in 2000 (average annual reduction rate [AARR] 1·23%). In 2015, an estimated 20·5 million (UR 17·4-24·0 million) livebirths were LBW, 91% from low-and-middle income countries, mainly southern Asia (48%) and sub-Saharan Africa (24%).
interpretationAlthough these estimates suggest some progress in reducing LBW between 2000 and 2015, achieving the 2·74% AARR required between 2012 and 2025 to meet the global nutrition target will require more than doubling progress, involving both improved measurement and programme investments to address the causes of LBW throughout the lifecycle.
fundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Children's Investment Fund Foundation, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and WHO.
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