A COMPARISON BETWEEN US AND BRAZIL’S BIRTH DATA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A COMPARISON BETWEEN US AND BRAZIL’S BIRTH DATA

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Birth weight may generally refer to the first weight of a baby taken a few minutes after he/she is born. Low birth weight is less than 5.5 Pounds, whereas high birth-weight is more significant than 8.8 pounds. A low birth weight kid may be born too early or prematurely, too small, or both. This may happen as a result of several reasons, which may include but are not limited to: genetic factors, health issues with the mother, drug consumption by the mother, problems related to the placenta. Some low-birthweight babies may be at more risk for numerous health issues compared to normal-born babies. Some may become relatively weak in the first few days of life or even develop certain illnesses. Others may end up suffering from long-term health issues such as learning, social development, and delayed motor disabilities. High-birth weight children are most of the time huge since the parents are enormous, or the mother may have diabetes during pregnancy. These kids may be at a higher risk of blood sugar-related problems and birth injuries.

Recently there has been a renewed interest in issues surrounding low and high birth sizes following the looming hypotheses that birth sizes may have long-term implications on the occurrence of several in adulthood. There also has been a comparison between birth weight data for different countries, specifically between developed and under-developed countries. This paper aims to compare and contrast statistical descriptions of birth weight information between the United States and Brazil.

The United States is considered the world’s largest national economy and the center of industrialization. Due to its wealth, world-class services, and high standards of living, the US is considered a developed country. In terms of GDP United States possess a GDP of above 40,000 dollars which, according to economists, is safe to declare a nation as developed. The incidence of birth weight has been carefully analyzed and monitored in the US since it is among the critical predictors of infant mortality and morbidity. The average or mean birth weight in the United States is about 3,400 grams or 7.5 pounds. However, moderate doesn’t necessarily mean the births are normal. A birth weight that lies between 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds up to 4,500 grams or 10 pounds is considered to fall in a normal range for a full-term baby. According to a very detailed report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) published by the Centers for Illness Prevention and control, approximately 3,791,712 births registered in the US in 2020 (Martin et al., 2020). This, according to the statistics, gives a birth rate of 11.6% per 1,000 population and a fertility rate of 59.1 births per every 1000 women aged between 15-44 years.

In the United States, state laws demand that all birth certificates are filled for every birth. The law mandates the publication and collection of every delivery among other important statistical information, compiled together by the NVSS or National Vital Statistical System to give statistical data from birth certificates. From these data, NVSS produced the following information: the average weight of the babies at birth lay between 6 pounds and 9 ounces which is approximately 3,000 grams and 7 pounds and 11 ounces, a total of 3,500 grams. 8.28 percent of the babies were said to be low birth weight, 1.4 percent of the babies were considered to be a very low birth weight that is less than 1,500 grams or 3.3 pounds, and finally, about 9 percent of babies were supposed to be high birth weight. The US’s standard deviation and birth weights were 3000 ±587.6 grams (Martin et al. 2020).

On the other hand, despite its numerous characteristics of it being a developed country, including having the largest economy across Central America or South America, Brazil is still perceived as a developing nation as a result of its low Gross Domestic Product per capita, high rate of infant mortality and the low living standards of its people. Concerning the topic of birth, the country records one of the highest rates of low birth weights among other developing countries in America at about 8.0% and remaining constant over the past ten years. A study was conducted in the city of Pelotas in Brazil in 1982, 1993, 2004, and 2015, with approximate samples ranging between 4231 and 5914 live-born kids. Low birth weight was defined as less than 2500 grams. Information was gathered on maternal skin color, family income, among other factors causing low birth weight. This research discovered that low birth weight in the above years increased from the previous 9 percent to 10.1 percent, being lower for girls than for boys. The median birth weight remained constant, around 3200 grams (Moreira, 2020). Another study revealed that Brazil’s low birth weight rates were non-significant and non-linear: the rate fell from 7.9 percent in the year 1995 to 7.7 percent in 2000, then rapidly increased to 8.2 percent in 2003 and remained constant after that at 8.2 percent in 2007. In 2020, Brazil recorded a low birth weight rate of 12.5 percent, which reveals an increase from 2007 (Moreira, 2020). This high LBW rate is influenced mainly by socio-demographic factors and the resident’s access to quality healthcare.

The low birth weight rate differs in various countries globally, being higher in developing countries due to unfavorable socioeconomic conditions. In Brazil, the low birth weight quality had been significantly increasing remarkably in its state cities from 8.5 percent in 1996 to 9.1 percent in 2010. In contrast, according to research, about one I every twelve babies in the US is born with low birth weight every year. This is about 8% of the total birth rate. Compared to Brazil, the US has recorded a declining birth weight rate in the past decades. Compared to Brazil’s 12.5% rate of Low birth weight in 2020, the US recorded a rate of 8.28%. According to Finocchario-Kessler et al. (2018), differences in the two countries have been related to natural factors such as socio-demographic factors and the resident’s access to quality healthcare where the living standards of people and their access to healthcare services was lower in Brazil as compared to US, continuous and discontinuous habits such as smoking habits which based on research, mothers exposed to smoking are likely to bear underweight children. In Brazil, smoking habits among expecting mothers were higher than that of the US; nurture factors such as parental genes were also identified to play a significant role in Brazil’s low birth weight rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Martin, J. A., Hamilton, B. E., Ventura, S. J., Osterman, M. J., Kirmeyer, S., Mathews, T. J., & Wilson, E. C. (2020). Births: final data for 2020. National vital statistics reports: from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, 60(1), 1-70.

Moreira, A. I. M., Sousa, P. R. M. D., & Sarno, F. (2020). Low birth weight data and its associated factors in Brazil. Einstein (Sao Paulo), 16(4).

Finocchario-Kessler, S., Bastos, F. I., Malta, M., Anderson, J., Goggin, K., Sweat, M. … & Kerrigan, D. (2018). Discussing childbearing rates and matters related to Low Birth Rates: a comparison of Brazil and the US. LBW and Behavior, 16(1), 99-107.