Teenage Pregnancy and Child Health in the Urban Sahel

Abstract

Longitudinal data for more than 20,000 live births in the cities of Bamako (Mali) and Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) are used to study the effects of young maternal age (less than 18 years and 18-19) on birth weight, child health care and feeding behavior, and child mortality, after controlling for other socioeconomic and demographic factors. Teenage pregnancies are associated with significantly worse prenatal health care and vaccination behavior, lower birth weights, earlier weaning, and, especially during the second year of life, higher mortality. A proxy for mother's school enrollment at the time of pregnancy is strongly linked to worse prenatal health behavior and weakly associated with other poor behaviors and health outcomes. Overall, the results highlight the importance of behavioral factors relative to strictly biological factors for explaining child health differentials.