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Background:Early marriage and confinement are contributing factors to high maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity.Objective:To assess the magnitude of the problem of teenage pregnancy and its complications.Materials and Methods:A hospital-based cohort study was undertaken over 4 months among women admitted to a rural hospital in West Bengal. The study cohort comprised of teenage mothers between 15-19 years old and a control cohort of mothers between 20-24 years old. Data included demographic variables, available medical records, and complications viz. anemia, preterm delivery, and low birth weight. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin level below 10 gm% during the last trimester of pregnancy, preterm delivery was defined as occurring within 37 weeks of gestation, and low birth weight was defined as babies weighing less than 2500 grams at birth.Result:Teenage pregnancy comprised 24.17% of total pregnancies occurring in the hospital during the study period. The study group had 58 subjects and the control group had 91 subjects. The prevalence of anemia was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the women in the teenage group (62.96%) than in the women in the control group (43.59%). However, severe anemia with a hemoglobin level below 8 gm% was only found in the control group. Preterm delivery occurred significantly more (P<0.001) in the study group (51.72%) than in the control group (25.88%). The incidence of low birth weight was significantly higher (P<0.0001) among the group of teenagers (65.52%) than among the women in the control group (26.37%). Not a single newborn was above 3 kg in the study group, while none were below 1.5 kg in the control group. The mean birth weight was 2.36 kg in the study group and 2.74 kg in the control group; the difference was strongly significant (P<0.001).Conclusion:The study shows that anemia, preterm delivery, and low birth weight were more prevalent among teenagers than among women who were 20-24 years old. This indicates the need for enhancing family welfare measures to delay the age at first pregnancy, thereby reducing the multiple complications that may occur in the young mother and her newborn baby.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of academic stress and exam anxiety among private secondary school students in India as well as the associations with socio-economic and study-related factors. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 400 adolescent students (52 percent male) from five private secondary schools in Kolkata who were studying in grades 10 and 12. Participants were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique and were assessed using a study-specific questionnaire. Findings – Findings revealed that 35 and 37 percent reported high or very high levels of academic stress and exam anxiety respectively. All students reported high levels of academic stress, but those who had lower grades reported higher levels of stress than those with higher grades. Students who engaged in extra-curricula activities were more likely to report exam anxiety than those who did not engage in extra-curricula activities. Practical implications – Private high school students in India report high levels of academic stress and exam anxiety. As such there is a need to develop effective interventions to help these students better manage their stress and anxiety. Originality/value – This is the first study the authors are aware of that explores the academic stress levels of private secondary school students in India. The study identifies factors that may be associated with the experience of high levels of stress that need to be explored further in future research.