2012/05/23 by Sarah Neal, SARAH NEAL, Zoë Matthews +9 · 1 citation
Health Professions · Medicine · Social Sciences · #Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health #Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences #Global Maternal and Child Health
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0412.2012.01467.x
openalex publication_date 2012/05/23 · crossref created 2012/05/23 · crossref issued 2012/07/12 · crossref published 2012/07/12 · crossref published-online 2012/07/12 · crossref published-print 2012/09/01 · crossref deposited 2023/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
There is strong evidence that the health risks associated with adolescent pregnancy are concentrated among the youngest girls (e.g. those under 16 years). Fertility rates in this age group have not previously been comprehensively estimated and published. By drawing data from 42 large, nationally representative household surveys in low resource countries carried out since 2003 this article presents estimates of age-specific birth rates for girls aged 12-15, and the percentage of girls who give birth at age 15 or younger. From these we estimate that approximately 2.5 million births occur to girls aged under 16 in low resource countries each year. The highest rates are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Sierra Leone more than 10% of girls become mothers before they are 16. Strategies to reduce these high levels are vital if we are to alleviate poor reproductive health.