@article{ref1,
title="Child marriage and adolescent motherhood: a nationwide vulnerability for women in Bangladesh",
journal="International journal of environmental research and public health",
year="2021",
author="Bhowmik, Jahar and Biswas, Raaj Kishore and Hossain, Sorif",
volume="18",
number="8",
pages="-",
abstract="The persistently high prevalence of girl-child marriage and adolescent motherhood is a public health concern in Bangladesh. This study investigated the division-wise prevalence and the influence of education and religious affiliation on child marriage and adolescent motherhood among women in Bangladesh along with their consequences using 15,474 women aged 15-49 years from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. Staggeringly, 82.5% women were married before 18, 43.1% were married before 15, and 61.8% gave birth before 18 years of age. Binary logistic regression models for the complex survey showed that girl-children with primary, secondary, and higher secondary or above education were 16% (95% CI: 0.69, 1.03), 32% (95% CI: 0.55, 0.84), and 87% (95% CI: 0.10, 0.17) less likely to get married <18 years of age, respectively, compared to the uneducated. Also, girl-children with secondary and higher education were 21 and 83% less likely to become adolescent mothers, respectively, than the uneducated. Women married during childhood (<18 years) and adolescent mothers were 36 and 55% less likely to continue studies after marriage, respectively, and expressed that they significantly preferred a late marriage. Policy interventions need to address culturally-laden social norms influenced by religious-related beliefs, especially in rural areas.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1661-7827",
doi="10.3390/ijerph18084030",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084030"
}