Newborn low birth weight: do socio-economic inequality still persist in India?

BMC Pediatrics

Table 2 Percentage distribution of low birth weight (LBW: < 2500 g) among children by background characteristics, India, 2015–16

Background characteristics	LBW	P-value
Age at index birth (in Years)		*
≤ 19	19.9
20–24	16.9
25–29	16.7
30–35	17.1
35+	18.5
Body mass index		*
Underweight	21.1
Normal	16.6
Overweight and Obese	14.5
Ante-natal care		*
No	22.9
Partial	17.8
Full^a	14.5
Birth order and interval		*
First	18.0
2–3 & < 23 months	17.7
2–3 & > 23 months	16.3
4+ & < 24 months	20.3
4+ & > 24 months	17.9
Education		*
No education	19.4
Primary	19.8
Secondary	17.1
Higher	13.3
Caste		*
Scheduled Caste	18.4
Scheduled Tribe	19.3
Other Backward Class	17.0
Others	16.3
Religion
Hindu	17.6
Muslim	16.2
Others	15.7
Wealth index		*
Poorest	19.6
Poorer	18.3
Middle	17.6
Richer	17.5
Richest	14.1
Residence		*
Urban	16.5
Rural	17.8
Sex of the child		*
Male	16.1
Female	18.9
Region		*
North	19.8
Central	19.3
East	15.7
Northeast	13.6
West	18.3
South	15.9
Source of drinking Water
Not improved	17.8
Improved^b	17.3
Type of toilet facility		*
Not improved	18.8
Improved^c	16.2
Type of cooking fuel		*
Unclean	18.3
Clean^d	16.1
Total	18.2

LBW Low birth weight
*p < 0.05
^aFull ANC defined as mother who received four or more antenatal checks, at least two tetanus toxoid injection, and took iron and folic acid tablets or syrup for 100 days or more during their last live birth in the 5 years preceding the survey
^bInclude piped water, public taps, standpipes, tube wells, boreholes, protected dug wells and springs, rainwater, and community reverse osmosis (RO) plants
^cInclude flush/pour flush toilets to piped sewer systems, septic tanks, and pit latrines; ventilated improved pit (VIP)/biogas latrines; pit latrines with slabs; and twin pit/composting toilets
^dInclude Electricity, LPG/natural gas, biogas

ISSN: 1471-2431