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The majority of girls in the United States do not have sex before the age of 19, a change from earlier years, a new report shows.
Between 2006 and 2010, about 57 percent of girls ages 15 to 19 said they had never had sex, an increase from 49 percent in 1995, according to the report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In addition, those who are having sex are increasingly using highly effective methods of contraception. The report said that 60 percent of sexually active girls ages 15 to 19 said they used contraception methods such as an intrauterine device, the pill, a patch, ring or injectable contraception — an increase from 47 percent who said the same in 1995.
Highly effective methods of contraception were more frequently used by white than black or Hispanic teens, the report noted.
"Addressing the complex issue of teen childbearing requires a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health that includes continued promotion of delayed sexual debut, and increased use of highly effective contraception among sexually experienced teens," the report said.
While the U.S. teen birth rate declined 44 percent between 1990 and 2010, it is still higher than rates observed in other developed countries. In 2010, about 368,000 births occurred among teens ages 15 to 19.
The report used information from a household survey involving 2,284 female teens between 2006 and 2010.
The portion of teens who said they had not had sex was about the same across all ethnic groups.
Younger teens were less likely to have had sex: 73 percent of girls ages 15 to 17 reported never having had sex, compared with 36 percent of girls ages 18 and 19, the report said.
To reduce rates of teenage pregnancy further, schools and community-based organizations can provide sexual and reproductive health education and support parents' efforts to speak with their children about sex, the CDC says.
Health care providers should be informed that no contraceptive method should be withheld from teens solely on the basis of age, the CDC says.
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really? i guess they haven't surveyed the ones i have been with...
Well at least the survey shows that this is a positive direction. But we need to be at a point where there is no longer such a show called "16 and pregnant." That show makes me sick. Actually the parents on the show are just as ridiculous as the 15 and 16 year old girls.
There will be a lot of disappointed boys after spending all that money on the prom.
romanm, no there won't there will be a lot of lucky girls!
Blake, as long as some people believe that only teaching abstinence works, there will always be a pregnant 16-year old available for her closeup. States that only do AO consistently have higher teen pregnancy rates.
LOL
And what percentage should we assume told the truth?
I was in High School in the late 70's, and there were many, many girls who I had sex with. Practically everyone I knew, male and female was having sex. I would put it at 75% of the girls in my school of 5,000 students were having sex from the ages of 14-18. It is far easier to count the ones who didn't want to have sex then all the ones that did. If I had to guess, I would put it at 85-90% of H.S. girls are having sex today.
Yes, that magic wand, the "highly effective contraception" (i.e., more concentrated chemicals) should solve all of our teen mis-conception problems, right? Maybe if I re-read this article another 100 times, I'll start to believe CDC blather, since they are the 'experts'.
What would you rather believe in, your unproven God? Contraceptives work, they aren't perfect but they work.
99.999%- that's good enough for me, even now being an adult.
Thumbs up to kkor for highlighting why this issue is still a problem in the U.S. and not in other developed countries. Just 20 more years and your kids will illegally crossing into Mexico... for health care, contraception and jobs.
Alex Le so does a dime between the knees until it hits the ground. At least God is always there may not always be listening but always there with you.
Morons. Kids are going to have sex, whether you like it or not. Whether a book about some magical man in the sky says its wrong since they're not married. Whether or not this same book says contraception is wrong.
The fact of the matter is, sex ed WORKS, contraception WORKS, no matter how much it upsets you that unmarried kids have sex with condoms on. Even kids of the same sex are doing it, and doing it safely. Guess they're all going to some magical place under the earth where they will burn for eternity!
You can just look at the large number of teen pregnancies to see this report is wrong. If 3% of girls in a city, town, or school is pregnant, there had to be 40-50% of girls who had sex and didn't get pregnant. Teens have no reason not to have sex, that's why many of them are having sex.
Either they're parents are VERY conservative, and preach "Absinence! No premarital sex!". Or they may have their own hangups "It's dirty, disgusting and shameful, you'll go to hell!". Some parents might have made they're daughters opt out of sex ed for all we know, and the girls may not have even be educated.
Then again, the educated ones know the risks a LOT better, and therefore can make a decision accordingly, therefore they are more responsible about sex.
Girls aren't having sex but guys still are...with other guys. I don't know why I was compelled to say that. :)
The headline is inaccurate - 57% is not "most" girls. The first paragraph says it correctly - a majority of girls do not have sex in their teens. That's a good trend (unless you're a teenage male), but 43% is still a high number.
When I was a teen most of the boys ended up having sex with the one girl that would! We dated the other girls but learned from the one.
Ha! I came here to say that, bubba. Sure, lots of guys got laid, but it was with the same few girls that'd put out.
in my teen year experiences, practically all the girls had sex. There were only a small minority that didn't, but I proudly had techniques that got them to have sex. I broke in plenty of virgins that other guys couldn't lay.
How does this study explain the GROTESQUELY HIGH incidences of teen pregnancy in the U.S. then?
Teen pregnancy rate: about 40 per 1000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_birth#Teenage_pregnancy_rates
i.e. 4% for the mathematically challenged. "Grotesque" is subjective, so up to you if 4% is acceptable to you or not, but it is far, far below the roughly half of all teens who are doin' it. Apparently they are all really lucky, or they mostly are using some form of effective birth control. I say "effective" in that they aren't getting pregnant at anywhere near the rate they are having sex.
Jenny-
The rates have been decreasing.
here in wacky utah, there is no such thing as sex education in schools. its mandated that there be no discussion of contraception other than abstinence. and here in wacky utah, we have the highest rate of teenage pregnancies and stds...cuz of the lack of information. thanks to our out-of-touch legislators and the influence of the predominant religion (mormons) who eschew alcohol; caffeine and out-of-marriage sex. did i spell "wacky" properly?
Back in the late 70's, I was stationed in Utah while in the USAF. I had a T-Shirt that said "Welcome to Utah ! Now set your watch back 50 years."
It seems as we now may need to set it even further back.
I'm confused. I live in the Salt Lake Valley, and had sex education in high school? I had it in 8th grade and my sophomore year, in fact. The classes weren't explicitly called "sex education," but the content was included in the mandated health class.
But yes, Utah is "wacky."
A study based on what the girls "said"? Not quite verifiable.
Dontcha just love these holier-than-thou people who insist on imposing their weird cults on the rest of us? I mean really, I know that if you go around telling people you talk to a magical invisible man who lives in the sky, watches over us all, protects us, and gives us a strict code of behaviors to live by, you're more likely to be placed in a facility with soft walls and blunted scissors. Oh wait, they give it a special name, and it's suddenly okay.
Marx was correct: Organized religion is the opiate of the masses. It creates impotence of the human mind to enable it to comprehend occurrences it cannot understand.
I'll have to do my best Bill Clinton impression, "Depends on your definition of what sex is..." :-) I'm sure if you took into account the teens experimenting orally and other ways...that number would be majority of teens having sex
Problem with this is no definition of Sex. One article I read stated most kids don't believe oral sex is sex so they may not be doing it one way but they may be doing another and by their thinking it's not sex. I guess Peter we were typing at the same time therefore we were not blogging. lying also goes a long way to skew a survey;-}
Sexual activity is pretty loosely defined. Sex is not, at least in this case. It is vaginal penetration by a penis.
"Technical virgin?"
Buffaloes Roam - that's what Bill Clinton thought, and see what it costed him...
Not much, actually....
Uh-oh. Al Sharpton will be calling birth control racist!
Most kids don't think Oral Sex, is Sex...
Back in my teen days, I had sex with at least 3-5 different girls each month. So 60 different girls every six months is a very conservative number. My goal was to get the phone numbers of 10 girls every other week, which was the same of my small core of friends also did. Some were getting more action then I was. Out of 10 girls whose phone number I got, I doubt there was ever more then 1 or 2 who hadn't had sex or wouldn't do it under any circumstance.
My point is that teens pretty much all have sex. It isn't no big deal to do it as long as there is mutual attraction. It was mostly about time and opportunity that kept anyone from doing it, not some moral dilemma.