Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The number of teenagers and young adults having sex has increased, reversing a 20-year trend, according to a report issued Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase was seen in children as young as 10.
The federal agency compiled data between 2002 and 2007 for adolescents and young people between 10 and 24. Its findings were compared it with data in a previous study that included figures from as far back as 1990.
The CDC found that in 2006 about 1 million youths were reported to have a sexually transmitted disease. Nearly 25 percent of girls between 15 and 19 and 45 percent between 20 to 24, had a human papillomavirus infection between 2003 and 2004, the study reported.
About 100,000 females between 10 and 24 were treated for rape at a hospital between 2004 and 2006, according to the report.
Children between 10 and 14 also were engaging in sexual behavior more often, the study found. About 17,000 children in that age group developed a sexually transmitted infection in 2006, while 16,000 girls were estimated to have become pregnant in 2004. Some 30,000 girls were treated at a hospital emergency room for sexual assault between 2004 and 2006.
The report found that one third of youths had not received any instruction of methods of birth control before they were 18.
“It is disheartening that after years of improvement with respect to teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, we now see signs that progress is stalling and many of these trends are going in the wrong direction,” commented Dr. Janet Collins, director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
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