OTTAWA, Feb 7, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Canadian study found that infants
born to teenage fathers are more likely to die within the first year of birth.
Researchers from the Ottawa Health Research Institute found that babies born to
teenage fathers also are more likely to be born premature and have low birth
weight.
The findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, were based on 2.6
million birth records, the University of Ottawa said in a release.
The analysis showed that babies born to teen fathers were 15 percent more likely
to be born early, 13 percent more likely to have low birth weight and 17 percent
more likely to be small for gestational age, compared to babies born to fathers
aged 20 to 29. The infants were 41 percent more likely to die five weeks to one
year after birth.
"Our study indicates that being a teenage father is an independent risk factor
for adverse birth outcomes, while advanced paternal age is not," study author
Shi Wu Wen said in a statement. "The mechanism of this effect is not clear, but
both biological and socio-economic factors could be playing a role."
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