STUDY SHOWS LINKS BETWEEN TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND CHILD UNDERNUTRITION IN INDIA

An adolescent girl with two young mothers and their babies in Dindori district, Madhya Pradesh (image: POSHAN team)

A new study by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that children born to teenage mothers are more likely to be undernourished than children of adult mothers. Published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, it is the first to comprehensively examine links between teenage pregnancy and child undernutrition in India. Shedding empirical light on pathways between teenage pregnancies and chid undernutrition, the study established that stunting and underweight prevalence were 10 percentage points higher in children born to adolescent mothers than in children born to adult mothers.

Co-authored by IFPRI’s Phuong Hong Nguyen, Samuel Scott, Sumanta Neupane, and Purnima Menon, and FHI360’s Lan Mai Tran, this study analysed data from 60,097 mother-child pairs and examined the extent to which teenage pregnancy is associated with child undernutrition. The authors explored potential social, biological, and programmatic factors linking early pregnancy to child undernutrition.

Compared to adult mothers, teenage mothers were shorter, more likely to be underweight and anaemic, less likely to access health services and had poorer complementary feeding practices. They also had lower education, less bargaining power and lived in poorer households with poorer sanitation. The strongest links between adolescent pregnancy and child stunting were through the mother’s education, her socio-economic status, and her weight.

Policies and programs to delay marriage can potentially help break the intergenerational cycle of undernutrition through many routes. A review of interventions to prevent child marriage in low and middle-income countries shows that interventions including unconditional cash transfers, cash transfers conditional on school enrolment or attendance, school vouchers, life-skills curriculum and livelihood training had a positive impact on increasing age at marriage.

In this blog post, we summarize the wide-scale coverage of the findings of this article by the media.  Below are links to some of the articles in the media (in alphabetical order):

• Business Standard: Teen pregnancy in India strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• Business Standard: Teen pregnancy major challenge in India, strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• Cosmos Magazine: In India, teenage pregnancy and stunted children strongly linked
• Daily Excelsior - Teen pregnancy major challenge in India, strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• Daily Hunt - Teen pregnancy can result malnourished children
• Deccan Chronicle - Teen pregnancy can result malnourished children
• Deccan Herald - Teen pregnancy in India linked to child stunting: study
• Devdiscourse - Children born to teen mothers are more likely to be stunted than adult moms: Study
• Down to Earth - Study reveals link between teenage pregnancy and child stunting
• Eurekalert: Teen pregnancy still a major challenge in India, strongly linked to child stunting
• First Post - In India, children born to teenage mothers more likely to suffer from under nutrition
• Hindustan Times - Teen mothers have stunted, underweight children
• Live Mint - Teenage mothers have undernourished children
• NDTV - Children Born To Teenage Mothers Are More Undernourished, Says Study
• News18.com - How Girls' Lack of Choices & Teen Pregnancies are Giving Birth to Stunted, Malnourished Children in India
• Outlook - Teen pregnancy in India strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• Quartz India: To solve child malnourishment, India must first target child marriage
• STAT Morning Rounds: Children of teen mothers in India more likely to have stunted growth
• The Asian Age - Teen pregnancy can result malnourished children
• The Hindu - Teen pregnancies linked to poor nutrition in babies
• The Hindu Business Line - Study reveals link between teenage pregnancy and child stunting
• The Indian Express - Teenage pregnancies increase chance of child malnutrition by 10 per cent: Study
• The Meghalaya Guardian - Study reveals link between teenage pregnancy and child stunting
• The New Indian Express - Teen pregnancy major challenge in India, strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• The Pioneer - Teen pregnancy in India strongly linked to child stunting: Study
• The Quint - Infectious Diseases, Teen Pregnancy Biggest Threat to Child Health
• The Week: Study makes strong link between teen pregnancy and child undernutrition
• Timesnownews.com - Teen pregnancy in India strongly linked to child stunting: Study

Access the study, a commentary on the findings and a podcast interview with the authors below:

•  Study:  “Social, biological and programmatic factors link adolescent pregnancy to early childhood undernutrition: a path analysis of India’s 2016 National Family and Health Survey”
•  Commentary and podcast interview:  The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health also commissioned a commentary on this article and did a podcast interview of the authors.