Prevalence and Correlates of Low Birth Weight in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Birth weight of the baby is an important indicator of reproductive health and general health status of a population. Low birth weight (LBW) is considered as single most important predictor of infant mortality, especially of deaths within the first month of life [1]. According to WHO, LBW is defined as an infant birth weight less than 2500g [2]. Low and middle income countries are the target populations towards the elevated prevalence of LBW [3]. As per the WHO estimates, globally about 25 million LBW babies are born every year and nearly 95% of them are from developing nations [4]. There seems to be considerable variation in the prevalence of low birth weight across the regions in different countries and vulnerable populations are especially target groups. A recent study demonstrated that in India nearly 8 million infants are born with LBW in 2013 and it is forecasted that there will be a surge in coming years [2].