The number of pregnant minors aged 15 and under has doubled in the last decade, according to the Philippine government's Population and Development Commission (POPCOM). The United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) also reported last 2016 that Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Asia. UNFPA estimates that one in ten 15–19-year-old Filipino women is already a mother. Teenage pregnancy is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as pregnancy in a woman aged 10–19 years.

In terms of maternal health and nutrition, a study found that the children of teenage mothers had a high prevalence of undernutrition, which is consistent with DOST-FNRI data showing that one out of every four pregnant Filipino women (24.5 percent) is at risk of giving birth to low-birth-weight babies and other pregnancy complications. And this condition was more prevalent among teenage pregnant women (37.3%) than among adult pregnant women (22.6%).

Young maternal age at childbirth (20 years) is linked to low birth weight, preterm birth, infant mortality, and poor child growth. For example, in low- and middle-income countries like the Philippines, babies born to mothers under the age of 19 have a 50% higher risk of stillbirth or early death than babies born to mothers aged 20–29. These connections may be due to biological, behavioral, and social factors interacting. Because they are still growing, adolescent pregnant women have higher nutritional needs than adult pregnant women. Also, the nutritional needs of pregnant teenagers may compete with those of the developing fetus. Teenage mothers may breastfeed for less time than older mothers, be less sensitive to their infants' needs, be easily annoyed, and use less emotionally positive communication than adult mothers. Also, younger mothers have less education and socioeconomic status, increasing their risk of psychological stress from limited resources and parenting.

 Last June 2021 a law is ratified through an Executive Order 141 known as ‘’Adopting as a National Priority the Implementation of Measures to Address the Root Causes of the Rising Number of Teenage Pregnancies and Mobilizing Government Agencies for The Purpose’’. This executive order aims to mobilize existing coordination and legislative procedures linked to adolescent pregnancy prevention. It involves interventions such as sexual health education, scholarships, and employment possibilities for the young, and health and nutrition promotion through media and communication platforms to avoid adolescent pregnancies.  Moreover, Republic Act 11148 or "Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act" was also passed prior to address the cyclical malnutrition among adolescent females. This statutes states that young females 10 to 18 years old must receive but not limited to the following:  regular health and nutrition assessment, age-appropriate immunization, oral health services, anti-helminthic drug for deworming, and counseling for nutrition mental health, risk-avoidance, smoking cessation, healthy lifestyle practices adoption, and family health counseling. The Philippines government hopes that by enacting these laws and enlisting the cooperation of stakeholders, it will be able to reduce the rate of adolescent pregnancy in the country as it has parallel relationship with malnutrition (FMM/AVF/NPCRML)

References:

Food and Nutrition Research Institute- Department of Science and Technology. (2013). Manual of Instructions, 8th National Nutrition Survey. Philippines: FNRI-DOST.

https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2018/ra_11148_2018.html