Table 1

Percentage of Infants Born at a Low and Very Low Birthweight, According to Mother's Detailed Race, Hispanic Origin, and Smoking Status, Selected Years 1970-2005*

Percent of live births¹

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005*

Low birthweight (less than 2,500 grams)

7.9

7.4

6.8

7.0

7.3

7.4

7.5

7.6

7.7

7.8

7.9

8.1

8.2

White

6.9

6.3

5.7

6.2

6.3

6.5

6.6

6.7

6.8

6.9

7.1

White, non-Hispanic²

5.7

5.6

6.2

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.8

6.9

7.0

7.2

7.3

Black

13.9

13.2

12.7

13.3

13.1

13.0

13.1

13.0

13.3

13.4

Black, non-Hispanic²

12.7

12.6

13.3

13.2

13.1

13.2

13.1

13.4

13.6

13.7

14.0

Hispanic origin^2,3

6.1

6.2

6.1

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.7

6.8

6.9

Mexican

5.6

5.8

5.6

5.8

5.9

6.0

5.9

6.0

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

Puerto Rican

9.0

8.7

9.0

9.4

9.2

9.4

9.7

9.3

9.7

10.0

9.8

Cuban

5.6

6.0

5.7

6.5

6.8

6.5

6.8

6.5

7.0

7.7

Central and South American

5.8

5.7

5.8

6.2

6.0

6.3

6.5

6.4

6.3

6.5

6.7

Other and unknown Hispanic

7.0

6.8

6.9

7.6

7.7

7.9

7.6

7.8

8.0

7.9

8.0

7.8

Asian or Pacific Islander

6.7

6.2

6.5

6.9

7.1

7.2

7.4

7.5

7.3

7.5

7.8

7.9

8.0

Chinese

6.7

5.3

5.2

5.0

4.7

5.3

5.0

5.1

5.3

5.2

5.1

5.3

5.5

Japanese

9.0

7.5

6.6

6.2

7.3

6.8

7.5

8.0

7.1

7.3

7.6

Filipino

10.0

8.1

7.4

7.0

7.3

7.8

7.9

8.3

8.2

8.3

8.5

8.7

8.6

Hawaiian and part Hawaiian

7.2

6.5

7.2

6.8

7.2

7.7

6.8

7.9

8.1

Other Asian or Pacific Islander

6.8

6.2

6.7

7.1

7.4

7.5

7.8

7.7

7.8

8.2

American Indian or Alaska Native

8.0

6.4

5.9

6.1

6.6

6.5

6.8

7.2

6.8

7.3

7.2

7.4

7.5

7.4

Cigarette smoker⁴

11.3

12.2

12.1

12.0

12.1

11.9

12.2

12.4

Nonsmoker⁴

6.1

6.8

6.9

7.1

7.2

7.3

7.5

7.7

Very low birthweight (less than 1,500 grams)

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.4

1.5

1.4

1.5

White

1.0

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.2

White, non-Hispanic²

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.2

Black

2.4

2.5

2.7

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.0

3.1

Black, non-Hispanic²

2.5

2.7

2.9

3.0

3.1

3.2

3.1

3.3

Hispanic origin^2,3

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.1

1.2

Mexican

0.9

1.0

0.9

1.0

1.1

Puerto Rican

1.3

1.6

1.8

1.7

1.9

2.0

Cuban

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.3

1.5

1.2

1.3

1.2

1.4

1.3

Central and South American

1.0

1.1

1.2

Other and unknown Hispanic

1.0

1.1

1.3

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.4

1.3

1.4

1.3

Asian or Pacific Islander

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.0

1.1

Chinese

0.8

0.5

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.7

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.7

0.8

0.7

Japanese

1.5

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.9

0.8

0.9

0.8

0.7

1.0

Filipino

1.1

0.9

1.0

0.9

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.2

1.3

Hawaiian and part Hawaiian

1.1

1.0

0.9

1.0

1.4

1.5

1.4

1.5

1.6

Other Asian or Pacific Islander

1.0

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.0

1.1

1.2

American Indian or Alaska Native

1.0

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.2

1.3

1.2

Cigarette smoker⁴

1.7

1.9

1.8

1.9

Nonsmoker⁴

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.4

"-" Indicates data not available.

*Data for 2005 are based on preliminary estimates.

Notes: Data for 2000 and later years are based on decennial census 2000 data. The race groups, white, black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Pacific Islander, include persons of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin. Conversely, persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Data are based on the National Vital Statistics System.

¹Excludes live births with unknown birthweight. Percent based on live births with known birthweight.

²Trend data for Hispanics and non-Hispanics are affected by expansion of the reporting area for an Hispanic-origin item on the birth certificate and by immigration. These two factors affect numbers of events, composition of the Hispanic population, and maternal and infant health characteristics. The number of States in the reporting area increased from 22 in 1980, to 23 and the District of Columbia (DC) in 1983-87, 30 and DC in 1988, 47 and DC in 1989, 48 and DC in 1990, 49 and DC in 1991-92, and 50 and DC in 1993 and later years.

³Includes mothers of all races.

⁴Percent based on live births with known smoking status of mother and known birthweight. Includes data for 43 States and the District of Columbia (DC) in 1989, 45 States and DC in 1990, 46 States and DC in 1991-93, 46 States, DC, and New York City (NYC) in 1994-98, and 48 States, DC, and New York City (NYC) in 1999. Excludes data for California and South Dakota (1989-99), Indiana and New York (1989-98), New York City (1989-93), Oklahoma (1989-90), and Louisiana and Nebraska (1989), which did not require the reporting of mother's tobacco use during pregnancy on the birth certificate. Sources: Data for 1970-2001: National Center for Health Statistics. Health United States 2003 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, Maryland: 2003: Table 12. Data for 2002 from: Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, Ventura SJ, Menacker F, Munson ML. Births: Final data for 2002. National vital statistics reports; vol 52 no 10. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2003. Data for 2003: Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, et al. (2005). "Births: Final data for 2003." National Vital Statistics Reports, 54(2). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Tables 24, 25, and 32. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_02.pdf. Data for very low birthweight, smoking status, National Center for Health Statistics. (2005). “Health, United States, 2005 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans.” Hyattsville, Maryland: Table 13. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus05.pdf. Data for 2004: Hamilton, BE, Martin, JA, Ventura,

SJ, Sutton, PD, and Menacker, F. (2006). "Births: Preliminary Data for 2004". National Vital Statistics Reports, 54(8). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Table F. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_08.pdf. Data for 2004: Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, et al. (2006). "Births: Final data for 2004." National Vital Statistics Reports, 55(1). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Tables 23, 24. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_01.pdf. Preliminary Data for 2005: Hamilton BE, Martin JA, and Ventura SJ. (2006). "Births: Preliminary data for 2005." National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 55. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Table 4. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelimbirths05/prelimbirths05.htm#ref02.