2000 Arkansas
Vital Statistics Highlights
Live Births
Arkansas had 37,790
resident births in 2000.
-- 6.2 % of all resident births
occurred outside the state of Arkansas
Birth Rate: 14.1
compared to a U.S. rate of 14.7 (births per 1,000 population)
There were a
total of 6,530 births to teenagers
-- There was a 2.3%
decrease in the Arkansas teenage fertility rate from 1998 to 1999
-- 17.3%
of all live resident births were to mothers aged 19 and under
-- Of all
these teen mothers, almost 71% (4,629) were unmarried
Percent of
Births to Unmarried Mothers: 35.8% (13,512 births), compared to a
national percent of 33.2
Percent Low
Birthweight: 8.6 compared to a national rate of 7.6
-- 3,236 babies
were born weighing less than 2500 grams (5 ˝ pounds).
6.4 percent (2,419)
of all Arkansas resident live births were born to mothers of Hispanic origin.
22.7 percent
(8,597) of all births were to mothers with less than a high school degree or
equivalent
77.9
percent (29,421) of mothers received prenatal care in their first trimester,
compared to 83.2% nationally
Deaths
Number of
Resident Deaths: 28,182
-- 5.8% of all resident deaths
occurred outside the state of Arkansas
Crude Death
Rate –
1052.1
Crude Death
Rates for the 10-Leading Causes of Death in Arkansas (per 100,000 population):
Heart Disease:
308.4
Cancer: 227.2
Stroke: 84.1
Chronic Lower
Respiratory Diseases: 52.3
Accidents: 46.9
Pneumonia/Influenza:
29.8
Diabetes: 26.7
Nephritis,
Nephrotic syndrome, and Nephrosis: 18.7
Septicemia: 16.2
Alzheimer’s
Disease: 16.1
Fetal Deaths
Arkansas had 268
Resident Fetal Deaths (> 20 weeks and/or > 350 grams)
The leading
cause of fetal deaths resulted from “Conditions Originating in Perinatal
Period”, comprising 94% of the
total (251deaths).
The fetal
death rate was still higher for blacks (10.7) than for whites (6.1),
but the rate for whites increased from 5.9 in 1999 to 6.1 in 2000
(rates are per 1,000 live births plus fetal deaths).
Infant Deaths
There were 317
infant mortalities to Arkansas residents in 2000.
The Arkansas
infant mortality rate was 8.4, compared to a U.S. rate of 6.9.
Black Arkansans
had an infant mortality rate of 13.7, compared to a white rate of 7.0.
Approximately 60% (189) of the 317
Arkansans who died before their first birthday were less than 28 days old
(neonatal deaths).