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QuickStats: Percentage of Large-for-Gestational-Age* Births, by Race or Hispanic Ethnicity --- United States, 2005

Infants born large for their gestational age (LGA) are at increased risk for birth complications, such as obstructed labor, and for obesity later in life. Information from U.S. birth certificates for 2005 shows that a greater percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native women gave birth to an LGA infant (12%), followed by white (10%) and Hispanic women (9%). Black and Asian/Pacific Islander women were least likely to have given birth to an LGA infant (6%).

* Birthweight at or above the 90th percentile for a given gestational age.

† Includes only singleton live births.

§ Might be of any race.

Infants born large for their gestational age (LGA) are at increased risk for birth complications, such as obstructed labor, and for obesity later in life. Information from U.S. birth certificates for 2005 shows that a greater percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native women gave birth to an LGA infant (12%), followed by white (10%) and Hispanic women (9%). Black and Asian/Pacific Islander women were least likely to have given birth to an LGA infant (6%).

SOURCES: National Vital Statistics System. Annual natality files. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm.

Oken E, Kleiman KP, Rich-Edwards J, Gillman MW. A nearly continuous measure of birth weight for gestational age using a United States national reference. BMC Pediatr 2003;3:6. Available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2431-3-6.pdf.

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Date last reviewed: 11/20/2008

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