Child Health Report 2002 - Infant Health - The First Years of Life

Infant Health - The First Years of Life

• Low birth weight is an important determinant of infant and child health.
• In 1997, the proportion of single births with low birth weight was 4.8 per 100 live births; this rate has been increasing in both Peel and Ontario.
• Low birth weight was more common among teen mothers and mothers aged 40 years and over.
• In 1997, stillbirth rates in Peel reached a high of 8.5 per 1,000 total births; Ontario rates remained consistent at an average of 6.5 per 1,000 total births.
• Congenital anomaly rates, which were lower in the early 1990s than the late 1980s, have increased in both Peel and Ontario in recent years (1995 to 1997)
• Rates of neural tube defects have declined in both Peel and Ontario.
• Infant mortality (deaths under one year of age) declined, but perinatal mortality (stillbirths and deaths before seven days of age) increased in Peel between 1995 and 1997.
• In 1999, 84% of new mothers in Peel reported breastfeeding their babies at birth; this declined to 43% of mothers with babies at six months of age. Older women and women with more education were more likely to breastfeed than other mothers.

• Chapter One - child population
• Chapter Two - family and community
• Chapter Three - infant health
• Chapter Four - injuries and violence
• Chapter Five - communicable disease
• Chapter Six - mental health
• Chapter Seven - dental health
• Chapter Eight - tobacco, alcohol and drug use
• Chapter Nine - nutrition, physical activity and obesity
• Chapter Ten - sexual health
• Chapter Eleven - child mortality and hospitalization
  
  
• Executive Summary, Lists, References, and Complete Report