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EFFECTS OF AGE, ETHNICITY AND HEALTH BEHAVIOURS ON THE PREVALENCE OF ADVERSE BIRTH OUTCOMES IN TAIWAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2012

SHU-CHUAN WANG  and
MUNG-CHIH LEE
SHU-CHUAN WANG
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Sociology and Social Work, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan
MUNG-CHIH LEE
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan
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Summary

This study sampled 8432 singleton first live births from Taiwan's 2005 Birth Registration Database to determine if there were more pre-term or low birth weight deliveries among aboriginal women than there were among Han Chinese women, and if the ‘weathering’ hypothesis applied to aboriginal women in Taiwan. Although the aboriginal women were socially disadvantaged and engaged in more unhealthy behaviours, including smoking, drinking, chewing betel quid and exposure to second-hand smoke, the evidence did not support the hypothesis that these teenaged minority women would have better birth outcomes, as has been demonstrated among teenage African-American women in the United States. Behaviours and not ethnicity were risk factors for teenage aboriginal mothers, who started deleterious health behaviours earlier than did their older counterparts. Teenage mothers had more adverse outcomes regardless of ethnicity and aboriginal mothers had more risky behaviours in all age groups. The prevalence of detrimental health behaviour among teenage mothers in Taiwan is of concern, particularly for aboriginal teenage mothers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 44 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 513 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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