Developmental and nutritional determinants of pregnancy outcome among teenagers

Bibliographic Data

ID8312554
AuthorsA Roberto Frisancho (University of Michigan), J Matos (0000-0003-2425-6185), W R Leonard (0000-0002-6233-604X, University of Michigan), Lucia Allen Yaroch (University of Michigan)
Year1985
Volume66
Issue3
Pages247-261
Publication date1985-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330660302
PMID3985136
OpenAlexW2050260727
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited24

To investigate the determinants of low birth weight in infants born to adolescent mothers, we studied the obstetric population attended at the Maternity Hospital of Lima, Peru. From this population, 1256 gravidas, ranging in age from 12 to 25 years, volunteered to participate in this study. Anthropometric and biochemical measurements were used to evaluate the nutritional status and physiological maturity of the mother and newborn. For analytical reasons the young teenaged mothers (less than 15 years) were classified as either still‐growing or having completed their growth, depending on their height relative to their parents' height. Similarly, the young teenagers were classified as either gynecologically immature or gynecologically mature depending on whether their gynecological age was less than or greater than 2 years. Our results indicate that young still‐growing teenagers, even when matched for nutritional status, have smaller newborns than adult mothers. The data also demonstrate that maternal gynecological age per se does not affect prenatal growth. As inferred from multivariate analyses, it appears that the reduction in birth weight among young teenagers can be explained in part by a decreased net availability of nutrients resulting from the competition for nutrients between the mother's growth needs and the growth needs of her fetus and by an inability of the teenage placenta to maintain placental function adequately for active fetal growth

Affect (linguistics) · Anthropometry · Biology · Birth weight · Environmental health · Low birth weight · Obstetrics · Population · Pregnancy · Birth, Development, and Health · Demography · Gestational Diabetes Research and Management · Medicine · Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies · Psychology