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    Prepared Parent

What’s really going on out there?

Free to Be is committed to providing current, medically accurate information to our teens and parents. Contrary to what many think, the majority of teens are not having sex. Still, there is much reason to be concerned…

Teen Pregnancy

  • 1 in 12 girls 15-19 become pregnant each year. The rate for pregnancy among sexually experienced teenage girls (15-19) is approximately 1 in 6. (1)
  • The birth rate for teens 15-17 has dropped 38% from 1990 to 2002. (2)
  • Overall, 53% of the decline in pregnancy rates can be attributed to decreased sexual experience and 47% to improved contraceptive use. (3)

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

  • It is estimated that there are 18.9 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States each year. Of these, 9.1 million (48%) are among young people aged 15-24. This is about 25,000 new cases each day. (4)
  • Every year 3 million teens, about 1 in 4 sexually experienced teens, contracts an STD. (5)
  • By the age of 24, at least 1 in 3 sexually active people will have contracted an STD. (6)
  • 68% of sexually active 15-17 year olds do not consider themselves to be at much, if any, risk. Most (57%) have never discussed STDs with a health care provider, and 70 % have never been tested. (7)
  • Chlamydia is the most commonly reported infectious disease in the US. 40% of chlamydia cases are reported to be among young people, 15-19. More than 1 in 10 sexually active teenage girls has chlamydia. (8)
  • 75% of women and 50% of men with chlamydia have no symptoms. Up to 40% of women with untreated chlamydia will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and 1 in 5 women with PID becomes infertile. (9)
  • Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common STD in America today among sexually active young people. There are 4.6 million new cases of HPV each year among 15-24 year olds. (10)
  • A recent study of college women found that 14% acquired HPV in one year, and after 3 years 43% had contracted the virus. (11)
  • More than 100 distinct types of HPV have been identified and approximately 40 of these can infect the genital tract. Eight of these types account for 95% of all cervical cancers. More women in the US now die from HPV-related cervical cancer than die from AIDS. (12)
  • There are 40,000 new HIV infections each year in the United States. 15,000 of these are contracted sexually by young people 15-24. HIV represents just ¼ of one percent of all STDs occurring in the US each year. (13)
  • Less than 10% of people who tested positive with herpes knew they were infected. More than 1 in 5 Americans, 45 million people, are currently infected with genital herpes. (14)

 

Risk Factors

  • 1 in 4 sexually active high school students report using alcohol or drugs during their most recent sexual encounter. (15)
  • About 13% of high school females and 5% of high school males report having ever been forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to. (16)
  • In a recent study of 9th grade adolescents, 19.6% reported having had oral sex and 13.5% reported having had vaginal sex. Participants evaluated oral sex as significantly less risky than vaginal sex on health, social, and emotional consequences. (17)
  • Oral sex is a potential transmission route for pathogens, including STDs such as herpes, hepatitis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV. (18)
  • Nearly half (48%) of 12-17 year olds say teens today face “a lot” of pressure when it comes to sex and relationships. 2 in 5 teens admit to feeling personally pressured (11% “a lot” and 26% “some”). (19)
  • 8 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys who have had sex say they wish they had waited until they were older. (20)

 

Risk Reduction

  • The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases reports that there is “insufficient evidence” (based on current studies of condom effectiveness in preventing STDs) that condoms offer protection against the most common STDs in America today, including HPV, herpes, chlamydia, and syphilis. (21)
  • Consistent condom use decreases the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission by approximately 85%. Correct and consistent condom use reduces the risk of female to male transmission of gonorrhea. (22)
  • The combined method failure (slippage plus breakage) is estimated at 1.6-3.6%. (23)
  • The percentage of women who become pregnant during the first year of typical condom use is 14%. (24)

 

Risk Elimination (Abstinence)

  • Currently 53.3% of high school students have never had sexual intercourse. (25)
  • Among high school students who have had sexual intercourse, more than 1 in 4 say they are currently abstinent. (26)

 

References

1. Henshaw, SK. U.S.Teenage Pregnancy Statistics With Comparative Statistics for Women Aged 20-24, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004.
2. US Department of Health and Human Services. US Birth Rate Reaches Record Low, 2003.
3. Journal of Adolescent Health. Can changes in sexual behaviors among high school students explain the decline in teen pregnancy rates in the 1990’s? 35(2):80-90, 2004.
4. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W. Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among American Youth: Incidence and Prevalence Estimates, 2000, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 36(1):6-10, 2004
5. Alan Guttmacher Institute. Facts in Brief, Teen Sex and Pregnancy, 1999.
6. American Social Health Association, Kaiser Family Foundation. Sexually Transmitted Diseases in America: How Many Cases and at What Cost? 1998.
7. Kaiser Family Foundation, MTV, Teen People. National Survey of Teens:  What the Know and Don’t (But Should) About STDs, 1999.
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tracking The Hidden Epidemics 2000: Trends in STDs in the United States, 2000.
9. Ibid.
10. Weinstock H et al., 2004, op. cit.
11. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000, op. cit.
12. The Medical Institute Advisory. A Quick Look at the Facts and Their Impact: HPV and Cervical Cancer, 2003.
13. Weinstock H et al., 2004, op.cit.
14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, op cit., 2000.
15. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2003.
16. Ibid.
17. American Academy of Pediatrics. Journal of Pediatrics, Oral Versus Vaginal Sex Among Adolescents: Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behavior, 2005.
18. Ibid.
19. Kaiser Family Foundation, 1999, op. cit.
20. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. With one voice: America’s adults and teens sound off about teen pregnancy. 2003.
21. National Institutes of Health. Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Diesase Prevention, 2001.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Hatcher, R. et al., Contraceptive Technology (New York: Ardent Media, Inc., 1998) 216.
25. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, YRBS 2003, op. cit.
26. Kaiser Family Foundation, 1999, op. cit.