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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Negative birth outcomes and stunting among adolescent and non-adolescent mothers in Türkiye
Ceren Varer Akpinar1, Asli Ata Teneler2
1Department of Public Health, Giresun University Faculty of Medicine, Giresun, Türkiye.
Background:
Adolescent motherhood can cause lifelong health inequalities for mothers and children.
Aims:
To compare the frequency of negative birth outcomes and stunting among children aged ≤ 5 years born to adolescent and non-adolescent mothers.
Methods:
This was a secondary analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey data of 2755 adolescent and non-adolescent mothers aged 15-49 years who had a negative birth outcome and their children aged 0-5 years in Türkiye. The data were analysed using SPSS version 25.0.
Results:
Term low birthweight and stunting were significantly higher among children of adolescent mothers. Multivariable analysis revealed that lack of education, poverty, and living in eastern Türkiye increased the risk of delivering a term low birthweight infant. The risk of being stunted was 2.22 times higher among women with lower socioeconomic status, and 2.86 times higher among low birthweight infants.
Conclusion:
Our results show that macroenvironmental factors have a marked impact on maternal and child health, especially among women with lower socioeconomic status. Improving maternal education, income, and other socioeconomic inequalities can help improve maternal and child health in Türkiye.
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