This retrospective and cross-sectional study on trends of Low Birth Weight (LBW) as observed in selected health
facilities in Ogun state, Nigeria, covered the period 1991 – 1999, with reference to the World Summit for Children
(WSC) target for the 1990’s. LBW is a serious threat to survival of infants in both perinatal and neonatal periods,
and to normal physical and mental development in the post natal period. The study was carried out to determine
how far the WSC goal of reducing the LBW incidence to 10% by the year 2000 has been achieved, and also to gain
an understanding on the determinants of LBW in the study area. Data were generated from five randomly selected
health facilities (three rural and two urban), with a total of 33,321 deliveries having fairly complete antenatal
records during the study period. Out of this number, 5,598 cases of LBW deliveries were extracted. The data
obtained were analysed using SPSS package version 14.0. The overall incidence of LBW was 16.8%. A regression
model further showed the percentage contribution of sex of baby (r2 = 0.43), maternal height (r2 = 0.41) maternal
age (r2 = 0.27) and parity (r2 = 0.09) to observed LBW incidence. The findings from this study showed an almost
consistent departure from the WSC target and explained why Nigeria did not attain the WSC goal. Adolescent
nutrition and reproductive health behaviours, measures for improved pregnancy outcomes and reversal of negative
implications of LBW incidence in Nigeria, must be effectively addressed.
