Anthropological Review • Vol. 84(3), 257–274 (2021) Low birth weight and birth weight status in Bangladesh: A systematic review and meta- analysis Saijuddin Shaikh 1 , Md. Tanvir Islam 1 , Rebecca K. Campbell 2 1 The JiVitA Project of Johns Hopkins University, Bangladesh, Gaibandha, Bangladesh 2 Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA AbstrAct: The prevalence of low birth weight (LBW) is high in Bangladesh, but no study has collated recent estimates of LBW prevalence from throughout the country. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of LBW and birth weight status in Bangladesh. We searched PubMed, Medline, Ovo and Google Scholar to fnd published articles in national and international journals from 2000–2020 and reviewed for relevance. Meta-analysis and Q test were performed to estimate the prevalence and hetero- geneity of LBW from all included articles. Meta-regression was done to quantify associations with sample size and study year. Stratifed analysis was conducted and effect size calculated for differences in LBW prevalence by sex, division and urban/rural area. In total 48 studies with 166,520 births were found and included in this meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of LBW was 29.1% (95% CI, 28.9–29.3%) in overall, 29.9% (29.7–30.2%) in rural and 15.7% (14.9–16.6%) in urban areas. There was no signifcant difference in average birth weight between boys and girls (SD, 0.71; 95% CI, −0.43–1.83). Prevalence of LBW was higher in north-east Bangladesh compared to other zones (p<0.05). The pooled prevalence of LBW did not change signifcantly for last two decades. The prevalence of LBW in Bangladesh remains high. Lack of im- provement suggests an urgent need for scaled up maternal and prenatal interventions and services known to reduce LBW. Urban/rural and divisional differences in rates suggest areas of greatest need. Key words: Prevalence, Neonatal weight, Newborns, Infants, Rural, Urban Introduction According to World Health Organization (WHO 2011), low birth weight (LBW) is defned as weight less than 2500 g at birth. LBW is a signifcant health indi- cator as it is one of the main causes of infant mortality, contributing to an esti- mated 40% of all deaths in children un- der 5 years of age (Ramakrishnan 2004; Karimi et al. 2019). LBW is also the second leading cause of neonatal death Original Research Article Received: July 25, 2021; Revised: August 27, 2021; Accepted: August 27, 2021 DOI: 10.2478/anre-2021-0022 © 2021 Polish Anthropological Society Low birth weight in Bangladesh Saijuddin Shaikh, Md. Tanvir Islam, Rebecca K. Campbell