title: Girl child marriage and its association with national rates of HIV, maternal health, and infant mortality across 97 countries.
abstract: This study was designed to assess associations between national rates of girl child marriage and national rates of HIV and maternal and child health (MCH) concerns, using national indicator data from 2009 United Nations reports. Current analyses were limited to the N = 97 nations (of 188 nations) for which girl child marriage data were available. Regression analyses adjusted for development and world region demonstrate that nations with higher rates of girl child marriage are significantly more likely to contend with higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and nonutilization of maternal health services, but not HIV.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. anitaraj@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Boehmer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D038622:Internationality; D008393:Marriage; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D011247:Pregnancy; D018454:Spouses; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HIV; girl child marriage; health and human rights; maternal and child health