Teenage Mothers at Higher Risk of Developing Obesity: Study

Being a teenage mother significantly increases a woman's risk of developing obesity later in life, a new study says.

The study was conducted by researchers from University of Michigan Health System who found that contrary to popular belief, teen moms don't get back to their healthy weight after a pregnancy, and they are more likely to be overweight or obese later.

"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," says Tammy Chang, M.D., a clinical lecturer in the department of family medicine at the U-M Medical School and lead author of the study.

For the study, researchers obtained data from The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Researchers found that women who had given birth between ages 13 and 19 were at a 32 percent higher risk of developing obesity than women who had become pregnant after age 20 or later. The results remained even after the researchers controlled for other factors, such as ethnicity, education, socio-economic status.

"For the first time, we've identified our youngest moms as a high risk group for obesity, which we know to be one of the most debilitating, long-term health issues we face," Chang added.

Obesity can raise the risk of chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis and even some cancers. According to estimates by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of all people living in the U.S. are obese.

"Obesity is a prevalent, expensive health problem with detrimental health consequences and it's difficult to reverse, which is why it's incredibly important to identify at risk groups early so that we can intervene," Chang said in a news release.

Teenage pregnancy in the U.S. has fallen in the past few years. In the year 2011, a total of 329,797  babies were born to women aged 15-19 years, which is a record low rate in the country.  

The study is published in the journal American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.