the trend of low birth weight and its correlation with inflation rate from 2016 to 2021 in rafsanjan, iran

Background: iran has been affected by sanctions over the past few decades. the aim of the present study is to explore the effects of economic sanctions and inflation rates on the rate of low birth weight (lbw) in rafsanjan, a city in southeastern iran.materials and method: in this descriptive study, we used data obtained from the iranian maternal and neonatal online system (iman system). the prevalence of lbw was evaluated in separate times including 2016-2021 on all live births registered in medical centers covered by rafsanjan university of medical sciences.results: the rate of lbw decreased from 2016 to 2018 (from 90.4 per 1000 to 79.9 per 1000), but after the sanctions were aggravated in 2018, lbw clearly increased. the rate of lbw in 2018 was 79.9 per 1000 live births, and this rate reached 87.9 per1000 live births in 2021.conclusions: the results of our study showed that the increased prevalence of lbw may be related to sanctions and an increased inflation rate. policymakers should note that these of political and economic interventions first damage people’s health including child and maternal health.