Researchers in Philadelphia evaluated reading scores of more than 12,000 7th grade girls and tracked them over a course of six years. During that time 1,600 of those girls had a baby.
The team found that two-thirds of the girls scoring below average were more likely to become pregnant than average scoring girls.
The study results remained the same even after researchers took race and economic status into consideration.
One doctor explains that poor academic skills may play into how teens see their future economic opportunities and influence the risks they take.
The study is in the journal Contraception.
