Correlation between adolescent nutrition during pregnancy and outcome of low birth-weight babies.

Fifty pregnant teenagers were chosen from four maternity clinics in the Tampa Bay area and followed from first visit to delivery. They were assessed for nutritional status based on routine standards and counseled, if needed. Weight of baby, Apgar score, and duration of hospital stay were noted and tabulated according to weight gain as either adequate or inadequate. Results based on 44 patients for whom adequate data were available revealed five of 13 patients with inadequate weight gain and two of 31 with adequate weight gain delivered low birth-weight babies. These statistically significant results suggest a correlation between poor maternal nutrition and low birth-weight babies.