Objectives. 1) To determine the nutritional status of pregnant adolescents aged 14 to 19 years seen at the Philippine General Hospital Teen Mom Clinic from February to July 2014; 2) To describe the demographic characteristics, pregnancy history, and lifestyle and health habits of adolescent mothers; 3) To describe the adequacy of the daily intake of nutrients (caloric energy, carbohydrates, protein, fats, folate, calcium, and iron) of adolescent mothers; and 4) To determine the association of specific demographic characteristics with body mass index categories. Methods. This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Included were the pregnant adolescents aged 14 to 19 years of age, referred to the Teen Mom Clinic, who planned to deliver at the Philippine General Hospital. Informed consent and assent forms were signed, and the principal investigator interviewed the subjects for demographic and clinical history at the time of enrolment. The adolescents were taught and instructed to fill up the food diary (2 weekdays and 1 weekend) and the food frequency (once) forms. These were submitted on their next visit and given to a licensed nutritionist for analysis. The nutritional status was assessed by gathering the weight and height of the patients in order to compute for the body mass index at the time of enrolment in the study. Results. The percentage distribution of nutritional status of pregnant adolescents consisted of the following: 65% normal; 28% underweight; 3.5% overweight; 3.5% obese. The 60 pregnant adolescents had a mean age of 16.9 years (SD 1.2). Their partners had a mean age of 20.3 years [SD 3.8]. On the average, they had a total of five pre-natal checkups. Majority of the respondents (85%) still depended primarily on their parents for financial support. Around 93% of the pregnancies were unplanned. Their median percent adequacy for daily calories was 72%, carbohydrates 69%, proteins 73%, and fats 86%. For the micronutrients, the median percent adequacies for folate, calcium, and iron, based on the needs of pregnant women, were 18%, 63%, and 29%, respectively. If amounts were compared to the requirements by age, the median adequacies of intake were 27%, 50%, and 41%, respectively. The nutritional status was not found dependent on the age, educational attainment, number of siblings, and the monthly family income of the respondents. Conclusion. Only 65% of the pregnant adolescents had normal nutritional status. There was still an elevated level of malnutrition among pregnant adolescents as shown in this study: 28% were underweight, 3.3% were overweight, and another 3.3% were obese.
Background. The 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) showed that 1 in 10 young Filipino women aged 15–19 years are childbearing. Yet, teenage pregnancy is known to be associated with complications in the mother and the child. Objective. This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic characteristics and obstetric and perinatal outcomes of teenage pregnancy among Filipino women aged 13–19 years at the Philippine General Hospital. Methods. This is a retrospective study consisting of reviewing the hospital records of teenage mothers from years 2014–2016. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the gathered data. Results. Almost 50% of the cases of adolescent pregnancy yielded obstetric and perinatal complications. The odds of having abnormal obstetric outcome among mothers with obstetric score of g1 is 7.8 times (95% CI: 2.0 to 30.7) higher as compared to other gravida scores and the odds of having at least one perinatal disorder decreases by 19% (95% CI: 6% to 30%) as the mothers regularly visit an obstetric clinic. This study also showed that among the pregnant adolescents, most of their partners were of legal age. Thirty-nine (23.9%) of them were seen by the Adolescent Service while 31(19%) were seen by the Child Protection Unit (CPU). Conclusion. With the noted obstetric and perinatal outcomes, teenage pregnancy is an important issue that needs to be dealt with. To ensure good outcomes, provision of health care services designed particularly to cater to the needs of adolescent mothers should be properly and timely implemented. A referral to the Adolescent Service and CPU will greatly improve policies pertaining to provision of holistic care and protection services to teenage mothers.
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