Is Her Body Really Ready?
by Rose Frisch, Associate Professor Emerita of Population Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health

Unfortunately, a young teenager below age 18 may think "her body is ready," but the fact is that even well-nourished U.S. girls do not complete their growth in height, weight, and the reproductive organs (including the uterus) until ages 16-18. Maturation of the pelvis is even later, ages 20-21. Fertility of well-nourished U.S. women rises to a peak in the mid-20s.

Teenagers are more likely to have low birthweight infants or infants with neurological defects, as Grizzard notes, because they have not completed their own physical growth. They also may not have completed their psychological growth and education. As Grizzard records, only "half of teen mothers complete high school, and fewer go on to college."

Rather than accept the high costs of a too early pregnancy, to the infant, the mother, and the community (and probably the father), physicians and teachers should inform young teenagers of the facts on their physical and reproductive development, and even encourage aspirations for education. Then, at grown-up ages, they can enjoy healthy infants as responsible parents.

Rose Frisch, Associate Professor Emerita of Population Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health February 8, 2002 Focus, a publication of Harvard Medical School Office of Public Affairs
 
 
 
 
 
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