Prenatal weight gain and postpartum weight loss patterns in adolescents.

The standard weight gain curve for pregnant females is used for all ages but its suitability for pregnant adolescents has not been satisfactorily examined. The purpose of this project was to compare prenatal weight gain patterns of 80 adolescents (13-17 yr old) with those of the standard curve. Girls who were chronologically and physiologically younger tended to gain less weight prenatally then older girls. Girls who were underweight prior to pregnancy gained more weight prenatally than other girls. Term weight gain averaged 37 lb. Increase in height was not recorded during the course of the investigation. The development of standard curves for adolescents must be based on a larger study population, but the curves presented here are an important initial step toward achieving this goal.