Description: Reducing the Incidence of Low Birth Weight in Low-Income Countries Has Substantial Economic Benefits

Reducing the Incidence of Low Birth Weight in Low-Income Countries Has Substantial Economic Benefits

Reducing the incidence of low birth weight not only lowers infant mortality rates but also has multiple benefits over the life cycle. This study estimates the economic benefits of reducing the incidence of low birth weight in low-income countries,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Alderman, Harold, Behrman, Jere R.
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2013
Subjects:	ADULT HEALTH ADULT POPULATION AGED ANEMIA ANXIETY BABIES BABY BACTERIAL INFECTIONS BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES BIRTH SPACING BLIND BREASTFEEDING BULLETIN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE CAREGIVERS CHILD CARE CHILD HEALTH CHILDBEARING CHILDBEARING AGE CHILDHOOD CHILDHOOD ILLNESS CHOLESTEROL CHRONIC DISEASE CHRONIC DISEASES CHRONIC ILLNESSES CORONARY HEART DISEASE CORONARY HEART DISEASES DEATH RATE DEHYDRATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIABETES DIARRHEA DIET DISEASE CONTROL DISEASES DRUGS EARLY CHILDHOOD EARLY DEATH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY EFFECTIVE VACCINES EPIDEMIOLOGY FEMALES FETUS FOOD SUPPLEMENTS GENERATION OF CHILDREN GYNECOLOGY HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH SECTOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE HIV HOME CARE HOSPITAL HOSPITALIZATION HOSPITALS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS HYPERTENSION ILLNESSES IMMUNODEFICIENCY INDIVIDUAL NEEDS INFANCY INFANT INFANT DEATH INFANT ILLNESS INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INFANTS INFECTIONS INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY INTERVENTION INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION IRON LABOR MARKET LEARNING LIFE CYCLE LIVE BIRTHS LOW BIRTH WEIGHT LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANTS LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES LOW-INCOME COUNTRY LOW-INCOME POPULATIONS LUNG DISEASE MALARIA MALNUTRITION MATERNAL HEALTH MATERNAL MORTALITY MEASLES MEASLES IMMUNIZATION MEDICAL ATTENTION MEDICAL CARE MEDICINE METABOLISM MORALITY MORBIDITY MORTALITY RATE MOTHER MULTIPLE BIRTHS NEONATAL CARE NEONATAL DEATH NEONATAL MORTALITY NEWBORN NEWBORNS NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS OBSTETRICS OUTPATIENT CARE OXYGEN PARASITIC DISEASE PEDIATRICS PERSONAL COMMUNICATION PHYSICAL WORK PNEUMONIA POLICY RESEARCH POOR HEALTH POOR NUTRITION POPULATION STUDIES PREGNANCY PREGNANCY OUTCOMES PREGNANT WOMAN PRETERM BIRTH PROGRESS PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS RESPIRATORY DISEASE RISK OF ILLNESS SCHIZOPHRENIA SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS SIBLINGS SMOKING SOCIAL MARKETING SOCIAL SERVICES SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS STUNTED CHILDREN STUNTING TEENS TREATMENT UNDERNUTRITION UNEMPLOYMENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS VITAMIN A VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTATION WEIGHT GAIN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION YOUNG ADULT YOUNG CHILDREN
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/01/17590622/reducing-incidence-low-birth-weight-low-income-countries-substantial-economic-benefits http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16397

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Summary:	Reducing the incidence of low birth weight not only lowers infant mortality rates but also has multiple benefits over the life cycle. This study estimates the economic benefits of reducing the incidence of low birth weight in low-income countries, both through lower mortality rates and medical costs and through increased learning and productivity. The estimated economic benefits, under plausible assumptions, are fairly substantial, at about $510 per infant moved from a low-birth-weight status. The estimated gains are primarily from increases in labor productivity (partially through more education) and secondarily from avoiding costs due to infant illness and death. Thus there may be many interventions to reduce the incidence of low birth weight that are warranted purely on the grounds of saving resources or increasing productivity.

Reducing the Incidence of Low Birth Weight in Low-Income Countries Has Substantial Economic Benefits

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