Physical Development of Children Born from Adolescent Mothers: A Descriptive Evaluation Compared to World Averages

OpenAlex İngilizce

Background: Adolescent motherhood is a globally prevalent phenomenon that has been the subject of scientific research for many years. However, comprehensive scientific studies focusing on the physical development of children born to adolescent mothers remain quite limited. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the height, weight, and head circumference development of infants and children born to adolescent mothers with the World Health Organization Multicenter Growth Reference Study (WHO MGRS) data. Methods: The study sample consisted of 2,209 infants and children born to adolescent mothers in Turkey, whose records were extracted from the Infant/Child Follow-up Data Set of the Ministry of Health. The physical measurements of these children were compared to the MGRS mean values using a one-sample t-test. Results: The analyses revealed that the mean height of children born to adolescent mothers was significantly lower than the MGRS averages in both sexes. While the mean weight of these children was initially significantly lower than the MGRS averages during early postnatal periods, this difference disappeared over time, with their weight eventually exceeding the MGRS averages in subsequent periods. Furthermore, head circumference measurements of children born to adolescent mothers were significantly lower than the MGRS averages across all measurement points for both sexes. Conclusions: Adolescent pregnancy poses significant developmental and health risks not only to the young mothers themselves but also to the children born from these early pregnancies.