New Study Links Teen Pregnancy To Obesity

Although there is a common belief that the earlier you give birth, the easier it is for your body to �bounce back,� a recent study suggests that this may not be true, The Huffington Post reports. The study actually suggests that teen pregnancy may raise risks of obesity. �We know that teen pregnancy is tied to certain immediate risks, such as babies having low birth weight and mothers struggling to complete high school � and now we know that it is also associated with poor long-term health outcomes,� said Dr. Tammy Chang, a researcher who worked on the study. �When taking care of teen moms, we often have so many immediate concerns � child care, housing, school, social and financial support � that we don�t often think of the long term health effects of teen pregnancy,� Chang continued. The study was conducted on 5,520 women between the ages of 20 and 59. It compares those who gave birth in their teens to those who had not. Researchers analyzed the data and placed each woman into a group of either being a normal weight (with a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9), overweight (with a BMI between 25 and 29.9) or obese (with a BMI higher over 30). The survey revealed that 44.2% of the women who gave birth in their teens were obese, while 35.2% of the women who gave birth after 19 were obese. The study did not find a huge difference between the groups of women who fell into the overweight category, but it did find that fewer women who gave birth in their teens fell into the normal weight category. Only 26.1% of participants who had children in their teenage years were found to be in the normal weight group. Researchers went on to note that there is an association between teen pregnancy and obesity, but that does�t necessarily mean that teen pregnancy causes obesity.