Teens Who Give Birth More Likely To Be Overweight

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 07 Apr 2009 - 0:00 PST

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Girls who give birth between ages 15 and 19 appear to be substantially heavier, with more abdominal fat, regardless of their childhood weight or of other risk factors for weight gain. Erica P. Gunderson, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., and colleagues studied 1,890 girls (983 black and 907 white) who were age 9 to 10 at the beginning of the study in 1987-1988. After nine to 10 years-in 1996-1997-31 percent of black girls and 10 percent of white girls had given birth during adolescence or young adulthood. Those who did were more likely to experience increases in weight, body mass index, hip circumference and percentage of body fat. The association was stronger among black women than white women.

"Our findings are potentially important because adolescence has been identified as one of the critical periods of development that set the stage for the onset of obesity later in life," the authors write. "Earlier age at a first birth (younger than 20 years) has been associated with increased rates of coronary heart disease in women. Thus, the influence of gestational weight gain on changes in growth and adiposity during adolescence is an important aspect for future investigation."

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163[4]:349-356.

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