Long-term Monitoring of Health Inequalities: Headline Indicators - October 2013
Annual update of the 'Long-term Monitoring of Health Inequalities' headline indicators.
Low Birthweight
Summary
- Having decreased between 2006 and 2008, inequalities are now stabilising in both absolute and relative terms.
Around 3,000 low birthweight babies (less than 2.5 kg) are born each year, accounting for 5-6% of total live, full-term, singleton births in Scotland. Low birthweight babies are more common in deprived areas than in areas of low deprivation (7.1% in the most deprived areas, compared to 3.6% in the least deprived, in 2011). Inequalities were broadly stable between 1998 and 2006, and appear to be stabilising again having narrowed in both relative and absolute terms between 2006 and 2008. The narrowing of inequalities was due to a falling percentage of low birthweight babies in the most deprived areas, while the proportion in the least deprived areas remained fairly stable. Note that data for 2011 are provisional.
Inequalities gradient in the most recent year available
Relative Index of Inequality (RII) over time
Absolute range over time
Scale / context
| Number of low BW babies |
Target population size (live singleton births) |
Percentage |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 |
3,108 |
55,152 |
5.6 |
| 1999 |
3,098 |
52,726 |
5.9 |
| 2000 |
2,906 |
51,082 |
5.7 |
| 2001 |
2,848 |
49,752 |
5.7 |
| 2002 |
2,910 |
48,952 |
5.9 |
| 2003 |
3,026 |
50,071 |
6.0 |
| 2004 |
3,030 |
51,852 |
5.8 |
| 2005 |
3,056 |
51,372 |
5.9 |
| 2006 |
2,928 |
52,286 |
5.6 |
| 2007 |
3,095 |
55,086 |
5.6 |
| 2008 |
3,134 |
56,738 |
5.5 |
| 2009 |
2,896 |
55,797 |
5.2 |
| 2010 |
2,756 |
55,153 |
5.0 |
| 2011p |
2,942 |
56,158 |
5.2 |
Contact
Email: Craig Kellock
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback