The relationship between age of mother and child health and development

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between age of mother and children's health and development at birth and at approximately three years of age. The sample is composed of Black and Hispanic women and their firstborn children who were delivered on the wards of a large New York City hospital in 1975. There were no differences between children of teenage and older mothers in terms of prematurity or birthweight, but the children of younger mothers had higher Apgar scores than those of older mothers. Age of mother was not significantly related to hospitalizations, the need to see a physician regularly, or abnormal weight. Although the number of injurious conditions and the incidence of burns were higher among the children of adolescent mothers, the effect of age of mother was not independent of other factors. The children of teenage mothers scored better than those of older mothers on the total Denver Developmental Screening Test, as well as on the Fine Motor sector. These findings thus suggest that when relevant background characteristics are controlled, children of teenage mothers are as healthy and develop as well as children of older mothers.