Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 27, 1995 TAG: 9504270057
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
A large new study suggests that biology, not just poverty, is to blame when teen-age births turn out badly.
About 13 percent of all children in the United States are born to teen-agers. Statistics long have shown that their babies are especially likely to be premature and undersized.
The reasons for this never have been clear. But because these young mothers often are poor, ill-educated and from racial minorities, many experts assumed their living conditions, not their age, explained their pregnancy problems.
The new work challenges this belief. It found that even middle-class teen-agers are almost twice as likely as older women to deliver premature babies.
``In general, all teen-agers should be encouraged not to get pregnant,'' even those who are married, said Dr. Richard Ward, the study's senior author.
Just how the mother's age contributes to prematurity is unclear. The researchers speculated that teen-agers' bodies still are growing and therefore may be competing with their fetuses for nutrients.
Understanding prematurity is important because it is the leading cause of newborn deaths. Babies born too soon simply cannot survive outside the womb, no matter what doctors do.
The new study attempted to sort out the causes by focusing solely on white, middle-class females in Utah. Two-thirds of the teen-agers in the group under age 18 were married, and 95 percent still were in school.
The study concluded that even when poverty is not a factor, the risk of prematurity remains high, especially for the youngest teen-agers.
``If you could have every pregnant teen-ager be married, not poor and get good prenatal care, you will still have bad outcomes,'' said Ward. ``Being young is enough to cause this.''
by CNB