A new United Nations report says teen pregnancies in the developing world are declining, but more than 7 million girls under the age of 18 are still giving birth each year.
The U.N. Population Fund in particular expressed alarm about the dangers facing girls 14 or younger, who account for 2 million of the 7.3 million births to women under 18 in developing countries. This group faces the gravest long-term social and health consequences from giving birth as teens.
The report says the issue is most evident in the developing world — with 95 percent of births to women under 18 occurring there.
It says ten percent of women ages 20-24 in the Middle East reported at least one birth before age 18, while 22 percent did in South Asia and 28 percent did in Western and Central Africa.