When a baby is born, his or her weight isn’t just a matter of trivial curiosity, or a fun fact shared by the proud parents. A baby’s weight and size at birth lays the foundation for the child’s future growth and development. Therefore, trends in recent years showing a deterioration in birth weight of Malaysian babies have raised concerns among healthcare professionals. In 2022, almost 13 in every 100 live births were low birth weight babies, and this number has been steadily increasing over the previous years. We sit down with Dr Azanna Ahmad Kamar, Consultant Neonatologist from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, to look at the complex factors leading to low birth weight trends. 

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Tee Shiao Eek, Ruqayya Zuhair

Presented by: Tee Shiao Eek

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories:  wellness,  managing disease,  medical advances

Tags:  low birth weight,  the bigger picture,  health and living,  antenatal,  maternal health,  public health,  pregnancy,