The report is troubling because underweight babies, born at less than 5.5 pounds, face the highest infant mortality rate and are at high risk of experiencing long-term disabilities.
The number of underweight babies born in Georgia increased by 10 percent from 2000 to 2005, the study found. The state ranks seventh from the bottom in delivering healthy infants, according to a new report.
The 2008 Kids Count Data Book is a state-by-state study of health, education and economic factors affecting U.S. children. Data also are provided for the District of Columbia, although it is not assigned a ranking with the states. It also documents a recent rise in the number of children living in poverty.
Overall, the northeastern states all ranked in the top half nationwide; the lowest scores were concentrated in the South and Southwest. Demographic data and health insurance data, and information on the juvenile justice system, also were provided for each state.
The report indicates a 44 percent decline in the high school dropout rate, from 16 percent in 2000 to 9 percent in 2006, a 2 percentage point jump from the national average.
There was no change in the infant mortality rate in the report. There was a high decline in low-birth-weight babies, children living in homes with jobless or underemployed parents, children in poverty, and children in single-parent families.
In composite rankings for all 10 indicators, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah ranked the highest, while Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama and South Carolina ranked the lowest.
African-American babies are about twice more likely to die than white infants born in Georgia, the report said. Babies with birth weights less than 5.5 pounds account for more than two-thirds of Georgia's infant deaths.
The rate of low-weight births is sharply higher for blacks (13.6 percent) than for whites (7.3 percent) or Hispanics (6.9 percent).
The Kids Count report said 18 percent of U.S. children, 13.3 million of them, were living in poverty in 2006, up by 1 million children from the 17 percent rate in 2000. It said child poverty increased in 32 states during that period.
