The low birth-weight rate measures the percentage of live births with weights below 2500 grams. A low birth-weight can affect health outcomes later in life, and is an illustrative indicator for the overall health of the measured population.
The low birth-weight rate in Champaign County has been above 8 percent since 2011, the earliest Reporting Year available in the dataset. This is close to the statewide rate, which returned to 8.4 percent from Reporting Year 2021 through present after a slight decrease in recent years. The lowest county low birth-weight rate in the state is 5.6 percent (Carroll County in the northwest corner of the state), while the highest county low birth-weight rate in the state is 11.9 percent (Pulaski County in southernmost Illinois).
This data was sourced from the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute's and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Each year’s County Health Rankings uses data from years prior. Therefore, the 2023 County Health Rankings (“Reporting Year” in the table) uses data from 2014-2020 (“Data Years” in the table).
Source: University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2023.
