In a study conducted from 1978 to 2012, researchers followed 1,820 women born between 1938 and 1973 and found that a family planning program established in 1977 in Bangladesh resulted in significant differences in lifetime contraceptive behavior and fertility but had few effects on later health and economic outcomes; however, women who participated in the program who were born between 1950 and 1961 experienced significantly increased body mass index in 1996 and 2012, compared with those who did not participate, according to the authors.
###
Article #21-01160: "Thirty-five years later: Long-term effects of the Matlab maternal and child health/family planning program on older women's well-being," by Tania Barham et al.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Jane Menken, University of Colorado Boulder, CO; tel: 303-818-9682; email: < menken@colorado.edu >; Randall Kuhn, University of California, Los Angeles CA; tel: 303-928-9111; email: < kuhn@ucla.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences