The proportion of babies born with low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams or about 5.5 pounds) out of all live births.
Low birth weight is a leading predictor of neonatal death. Low birth-weight infants are also more likely than normal birth-weight infants to experience long-term developmental and neurological disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that maternal smoking is the cause of 20% to 30% of all low-weight births in the United States.
The proportion of babies with low birth weight in the region has remained fairly steady from 2010 to 2022, varying from 6.7% to 7.8%. The rate increased slightly from 2021 to 2022 (from 7.2% to 7.5%) but is lower than the peak of 7.8% in 2014. The region's rates have typically been lower than statewide rates (excluding NYC). Of the region's counties, Sullivan and Ulster had the highest rate in 2022 (8.7% and 8.5%. respectively) while Columbia had the lowest (5.7%). Sullivan went from having the lowest rate in 2021 to the highest rate in 2022. Among local areas for which data were available, the Woodbury Village (Orange County) had the lowest rate at 3.3% in 2022, while the City of Kingston (Ulster County) had the highest rate at 12.1%.
Rates based upon small numbers in some of the geographies can vary widely, making it difficult to distinguish true changes from random fluctuations.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 7.1% | 7.4% | 7.3% | 7.3% | 7.8% | 7.0% | 7.2% | 6.9% | 6.7% | 7.4% | 7.5% | 7.2% | 7.5% | ||||||
| Columbia | 6.2% | 7.5% | 7.9% | 6.1% | 8.1% | 5.7% | 3.9% | 6.5% | 6.4% | 6.3% | 7.7% | 7.1% | 5.7% | ||||||
| Dutchess | 6.6% | 7.5% | 7.0% | 7.3% | 8.6% | 7.3% | 7.2% | 8.1% | 6.9% | 7.4% | 7.6% | 8.3% | 7.3% | ||||||
| Greene | 9.5% | 8.4% | 8.5% | 6.2% | 8.8% | 6.6% | 8.7% | 7.8% | 6.2% | 8.6% | 5.0% | 8.5% | 7.1% | ||||||
| Orange | 6.4% | 7.4% | 7.4% | 7.3% | 6.9% | 6.4% | 7.3% | 6.2% | 6.6% | 7.1% | 7.3% | 6.5% | 7.4% | ||||||
| Putnam | 8.4% | 7.2% | 9.4% | 7.5% | 8.1% | 7.1% | 7.2% | 6.6% | 7.0% | 5.5% | 7.2% | 8.1% | 6.6% | ||||||
| Sullivan | 10.1% | 9.5% | 8.3% | 9.0% | 9.0% | 9.8% | 7.7% | 7.3% | 6.7% | 9.4% | 9.6% | 6.2% | 8.7% | ||||||
| Ulster | 7.3% | 5.9% | 5.4% | 7.0% | 7.9% | 7.1% | 7.1% | 7.4% | 7.1% | 8.5% | 7.5% | 7.6% | 8.5% | ||||||
| NYS (excluding NYC) | 7.7% | 7.8% | 7.5% | 7.5% | 7.7% | 7.5% | 7.6% | 7.7% | 7.7% | 7.7% | 7.8% | 7.9% | 8.1% | ||||||
| U.S. | 8.1% | 8.1% | 8.0% | 8.0% | 8.0% | 8.1% | 8.2% | 8.3% | 8.3% | 8.3% | 8.2% | 8.5% | 8.6% | ||||||
| Dutchess Cities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Orange Cities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Orange Villages | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ulster Cities | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 879 | 875 | 861 | 841 | 897 | 800 | 823 | 808 | 791 | 886 | 886 | 905 | 926 | ||||||
| Columbia | 37 | 41 | 42 | 33 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 33 | 30 | 30 | 36 | 34 | 27 | ||||||
| Dutchess | 190 | 200 | 190 | 190 | 231 | 190 | 181 | 211 | 176 | 201 | 195 | 220 | 191 | ||||||
| Greene | 44 | 36 | 35 | 26 | 35 | 25 | 32 | 30 | 27 | 31 | 20 | 33 | 27 | ||||||
| Orange | 322 | 360 | 351 | 346 | 333 | 308 | 358 | 315 | 333 | 369 | 381 | 365 | 405 | ||||||
| Putnam | 78 | 62 | 78 | 60 | 67 | 58 | 59 | 53 | 59 | 44 | 60 | 74 | 60 | ||||||
| Sullivan | 84 | 77 | 79 | 75 | 71 | 78 | 66 | 58 | 57 | 82 | 83 | 60 | 85 | ||||||
| Ulster | 124 | 99 | 86 | 111 | 120 | 111 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 129 | 111 | 119 | 131 | ||||||
| NYS (excluding NYC) | 9,495 | 9,409 | 9,069 | 8,972 | 9,260 | 8,965 | 9,043 | 9,078 | 8,991 | 8,947 | 8,815 | 9,329 | 9,304 | ||||||
| U.S. | 325,563 | 319,711 | 315,709 | 315,099 | 318,847 | 320,869 | 321,839 | 318,873 | 313,752 | 311,245 | 297,604 | 311,932 | 314,756 | ||||||
| Dutchess Cities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Orange Cities | |||||||||||||||||||
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