Adolescent Pregnancy and Attained Height among Black South African Girls: Matched-Pair Prospective Study.
<h4>Importance</h4>The impact of adolescent pregnancy on offspring birth outcomes has been widely studied, but less is known about its impact on the growth of the young mother herself.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the association between adolescent pregnancy and attained hei...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2016-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147861 |
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| Summary: | <h4>Importance</h4>The impact of adolescent pregnancy on offspring birth outcomes has been widely studied, but less is known about its impact on the growth of the young mother herself.<h4>Objective</h4>To determine the association between adolescent pregnancy and attained height.<h4>Design</h4>Prospective birth cohort study.<h4>Setting</h4>Cohort members followed from birth to age 20 y in Soweto, South Africa.<h4>Participant</h4>From among 840 Black females with sufficient data, we identified 54 matched pairs, in which a girl who became pregnant before the age of 17 years was matched with a girl who did not have a pregnancy by age 20 y. Pairs were matched on age at menarche and height-for-age z scores in the year before the case became pregnant (mean 15.0 y).<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>The two groups were compared with respect to attained height, measured at mean age 18.5 y.<h4>Results</h4>Mean age at conception was 15.9 years (range: 13.7 to 16.9 y). Mean height at matching was 159.4 cm in the adolescent pregnancy group and 159.3 cm in the comparison group (p = 0.3). Mean attained height was 160.4 cm in the adolescent pregnancy group and 160.3 cm in the comparison group (p = 0.7).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Among Black females in Soweto, South Africa, adolescent pregnancy was not associated with attained height. |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |