The X factor: Teenage pregnancies are large silent contributors to childhood malnutrition in India (Scroll.in)

India’s Scroll.in reported on an IFPRI study that found child marriages and underage pregnancies contribute to the country’s malnourishment problem. The article quoted Senior Research Fellow Purnima Menon who noted that babies born to teenage mothers are at a much greater risk of being malnourished, while their mothers were more likely to be underweight and anemic than adult mothers. Menon also proposed two policy solutions: to prevent early marriage and to provide better access to family planning and contraception to women who have already married. The article described government programs and laws aimed at curbing malnutrition and empowering women and added that the IFPRI study promotes additional efforts aimed at preventing early marriage and underage pregnancies.