Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - August 26, 2008
Nicholas Bakalar
Compared with their peers in 1991, high school students today are less likely to be sexually active, and when they are, more likely to use condoms.
The percentage of high school students in 2007 who had ever had sexual intercourse declined by 12 percent since 1991, the percentage who had had intercourse with four or more partners declined by 20 percent, and the percentage who were currently sexually active declined by 7 percent. At the same time, condom use increased by 33 percent.
The findings were published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Aug. 1 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The news is not all good. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of sexual risk behaviors from 2005 to 2007. This may have contributed to a 34 percent increase in H.I.V. and AIDS cases diagnosed among teenagers 15 to 19 from 2003 to 2006, a 6 percent increase in gonorrhea from 2005 to 2006, and an increase in live births to 41.9 per 1,000 in 2006 from 40.5 in 2005.
"We've had some real successes over the last 17 years," said Laura Kann, a co-author of the report and a scientist in the division of adolescent and school health of the C.D.C. "We need to renew our efforts to delay onset of sexual activity and to increase condom use among kids once they are sexually active.
Related Weblink: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5730a1.htm
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