Adolescent fertility trends and surveillance gaps in Latin America

Despite the recognition of adolescent fertility as a major public health concern, and recommendations from international organisations for actions to prevent early pregnancy and childbirth, the rates remain remarkably high in low-income and middle-income countries. Adolescent fertility is a mark of social inequality, both between and within countries. The intergenerational transmission of adolescent fertility—ie, when adolescent mothers give birth to future adolescent mothers 1 Serván-Mori E Quezada-Sánchez AD Sosa-Rubí SG Heredia-Pi I Lozano R Intergenerational replication of teenage pregnancy and educational attainment in Mexico. Arch Sex Behav. 2022; 51: 4023-4034 Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar —contributes to the perpetuation of socioeconomic disparities, given the association of adolescent fertility with lower educational attainment and poorer job opportunities. 2 Cruz E Cozman FG Souza W Takiuti A The impact of teenage pregnancy on school dropout in Brazil: a Bayesian network approach. BMC Public Health. 2021; 211850 Crossref Scopus (2) Google Scholar , 3 The World BankLAC: poverty, poor education and lack of opportunities increase risk of teenage pregnancy. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/12/12/lac-poverty-education-teenage-pregnancyDate: Dec 12, 2013 Date accessed: March 16, 2023 Google Scholar Trends and inequities in adolescent childbearing in Latin American and Caribbean countries across generations and over time: a population-based studyOur results indicate a reduction in AFR in Latin American and Caribbean countries that was not necessarily accompanied by a decrease in early childbearing overall. Large inequalities both between countries and within countries were observed, with no clear reduction over time. Understanding trends in adolescent childbearing and its determinants is essential for planning and designing programmes to ensure the desired reductions in rates and gaps across population subgroups. Full-Text PDF Open Access