Varela P. M. La fecundidad adolescente: una expresión de cambio del comportamiento reproductivo en Uruguay. [Adolescent fecundity: an expression of change in reproductive behavior in Uruguay.] Salud Problema [Health Problem] (Mexico City, Mexico) 1999 June; 4(6): 51-64.

Objective:To analyze changes in adolescent fecundity in Uruguay.

Methodology: Analytic and interpretive, based on secondary data.

Results: Adolescent mothers present greater vulnerabilities than other young mothers in Uruguay. Adolescent mothers have access to fewer years of education and probably will have fewer possibilities of reaching the education level of other youth, a situation that makes their current and future insertion into the labor market difficult. Likewise, adolescent mothers are more likely to be involved in more precarious couple relationships, causing them to assume the role of single parent in greater proportion than found in other age groups. Adolescents seek services at health centers later and have a higher percentage of children with low birth weight. These factors mean that the adolescent group constitutes a population at risk in respect to general health and to reproductive health.

Conclusions: Adolescent fecundity deserves attention as a problem, separate from other problems generated by poverty.