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Ministry of Health
TABLE 16
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT LIVE BIRTHS BY GESTATIONAL AGE
British Columbia, 1995 - 1999, AND 2000

Table, Low Birth Weight Live Births by Gestational Age

[Click here to download a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet of the above table]

FIGURE 12
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT LIVE BIRTHS BY LOCAL HEALTH AREA
British Columbia, 1995-1999

Table, Low Birth Weight Live Births by Local Health Area

Note: Ratio-Observed over the expected. Refer to Figure 1 to clarify geographical location of Local Health Areas.

HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 16/FIGURE 12
  • The provincial low birth weight (LBW) (less than 2,500 grams) live birth rate for 2000 was 51.33 per 1,000 live births, slightly higher than the 1995-1999 LBW rate (50.83).

  • The five Local Health Areas (LHAs) with the highest LBW rates (based on at least five births) in 2000 (number of births in parentheses) were:
    010 Arrow Lakes 125.00 (5)
    078 Enderby 98.36 (6)
    025 100 Mile House 94.49 (12)
    077 Summerland 93.33 (7)
    011 Trail 88.76 (15)

  • The five LHAs with lowest LBW rates (based on at least five births) in 2000 (number of births in parentheses) were:
    046 Sunshine Coast 26.91 (6)
    054 Smithers 29.85 (8)
    052 Prince Rupert 33.02 (7)
    085 Vancouver Island North 33.90 (6)
    088 Terrace 34.72 (10)

  • In 2000, North Thompson and Snow Country did not have any low birth weight births.

  • There were five LHAs with low birth weight ratios for the period 1995-1999 that were statistically significant and high (number of births and LBW rate per 1,000 live births, respectively, in parentheses):
    014 Southern Okanagan 1.49 (60) (75.76)
    165 Vancouver Midtown 1.22 (366) (62.12)
    163 Vancouver North East 1.19 (374) (60.50)
    036 Surrey 1.17 (1,500) (59.65)
    041 Burnaby 1.12 (578) (56.83)

  • There were ten LHAs with low birth weight ratios for the period 1995-1999 that were statistically significant and low, based on at least five births. The five lowest (number of births and LBW rate per 1,000 live births in parentheses) were:
    064 Gulf Islands 0.35 (9) (17.68)
    063 Saanich 0.66 (74) (33.70)
    059 Peace River South 0.67 (63) (33.82)
    002 Cranbrook 0.75 (50) (37.88)
    044 North Vancouver 0.77 (277) (39.21)