fast facts

A Troubled Beginning
Photograph by Karen Kasmauski

Just minutes old, a baby in Bangladesh faces an uncertain future. With a low birth weight by international standards—less than 2,500 grams, or about five and a half pounds (2.5 kilograms)— this baby is much more likely to get sick and to succumb to disease than a newborn of normal size. More than 50 percent of babies in Bangladesh start out underweight.

In National Geographic