ABSTRACT
Teenage pregnancies have long been the norm in most of the world. This remains so even in populations far less well nourished than and where sexual maturity is delayed by several years. When investigate pregnant teenagers age by age rather than lumped in a broad age group, three findings immediately attract attention. First is their advanced sexual maturity, not only for the youngest of the teenage mothers but also throughout the pregnant teenage sample. Second is their small size, particularly for the youngest of the teenage mothers. Third, clearly, is their excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Weight gain during pregnancy is considerably greater in the younger teenage mothers, by 3.5 kg or so (nearly 8 lb). This is a considerable difference, amounting to one-third of the average pregnancy weight gain in older mothers. If use birth weight as criterion instead of gestational prematurity the teenage effect is of comparable magnitude.
