- With Mayo Clinic emeritus consultant
Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.
Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.
Dr. Jay Hoecker, an emeritus consultant in the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, brings valuable expertise to MayoClinic.com in general and primary care pediatrics. He has a particular interest in infectious diseases of children.
Dr. Hoecker, a Fort Worth, Texas, native, is certified as a pediatrician by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was trained at Washington University's St. Louis Children's Hospital, and in infectious diseases at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He has been with Mayo Clinic since 1989.
"The World Wide Web is revolutionizing the availability and distribution of information, including health information about children and families," Dr. Hoecker says. "The evolution of the Web has included greater safety, privacy and accuracy over time, making the quality and access to children's health information immediate, practical and useful. I am happy to be a part of this service to patients from a trusted name in medicine, to use and foster all the good the Web has to offer children and their families."
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Question
Low birth weight: What does it mean?
What does low birth weight mean?
Answer
from Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.
Low birth weight is a term used to describe babies who weigh less at birth than they should for their gestational age. Full-term babies who weigh less than 5 pounds, 4 ounces at birth are considered low birth weight.
Some low birth weight babies are healthy, even though they're small. They may be small simply because their parents are smaller than average. Other babies are low birth weight because something slowed or stopped their growth in the uterus.
Causes of low birth weight include:
- Smoking
- Poor nutrition
- Infection or illness in the mother or fetus
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Certain placental problems
- Certain birth defects
In general, the lower the birth weight, the greater the risk of serious health problems.
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