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American teens: Less sex, more condoms

(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-16 10:33

WASHINGTON - Fewer high school students are having sex these days, and
more are using condoms. The teen birth rate has hit a record low.

More young people are finishing high school, too, and more little kids
are being read to, according to the latest government snapshot on the
well-being of the nation's children. It's good news on a number of key
wellness indicators, experts said of the report being released Friday.

"The implications for the population are quite positive in terms of their
health and their well-being," said Edward Sondik, director of the
National Center for Health Statistics. "The lower figure on teens having
sex means the risk of sexually transmitted diseases is lower."

In 2005, 47 percent of high school students - 6.7 million - reported ever
having had sexual intercourse, down from 54 percent in 1991. The rate of
those who reported having had sex has remained the same since 2003.

Thirty-four percent of the students reported having had sex during a
three-month period in 2005. Of those, 63 percent - about 3 million - used
condoms. That's up from 46 percent in 1991.

The teen birth rate, the report said, was 21 per 1,000 young women ages
15-17 in 2005 - an all-time low. It was down from 39 births per 1,000
teens in 1991.

"This is very good news," said Sondik. "Young teen mothers and their
babies are at a greater risk of both immediate and long-term
difficulties."

The birth rate in the 15-19 age group was 40 per 1,000 in 2005, also down
sharply from the previous decade.

Education campaigns that started years ago are having a significant
effect, said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a
Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on prevention of teen
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

"I think the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the efforts in the '80s and '90s had a
lot to do with that," Wagoner said of the improved numbers on teen sex,
condoms and adolescent births.

"We need to encourage young teens to delay sexual initiation and we need
to make sure they get all the information they need about condoms and
birth control," he said.

The report was compiled from statistics and studies at 22 federal
agencies, and covered 38 key indicators, including infant mortality,
academic achievement rates and the number of children living in poverty.
The 2005 figures were the most comprehensive numbers available.

Other highlights:

The percentage of children covered by health insurance decreased
slightly. In 2005, 89 percent of children had health insurance coverage
at some point during the year, down from 90 percent the previous year.

The percentage of low birthweight infants (born weighing less than 5
pounds, 8 ounces) increased. It was 8.2 percent in 2005, up from 8.1
percent in 2004.

More youngsters are getting reading time. Sixty percent of children ages
3-5 (and not in kindergarten) were read to daily by a family member in
2005, up from 53 percent in 1993.

The percentage of children who had at least one parent working year round
and full-time increased to 78.3 percent in 2005, up from 77.6 percent the
previous year.

More young people are completing high school. In 2005, 88 percent of
young adults had finished high school - up from 84 percent in 1980.

The report was released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and
Family Statistics - a consortium of federal agencies that includes the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Census
Bureau and the Administration for Children and Families.

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