Health
Low birth weight
Improving
2.9%of full-term babies in England were born weighing under 2.5kg in 2025
−0.11 pts on the year before; 3.0% in 2006
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Low birth weight
ImprovingWhat it means: babies born at full term (37 weeks or more) who are still small, which is linked to smoking in pregnancy, poor nutrition and deprivation, and to poorer health later in life. Premature babies are left out because they are small for a different reason. The share has barely changed in twenty years. A change of 0.1 points or more counts.
Source: OHID, public health outcomes framework, indicator 20101 (Fingertips).