AEGiS-Reuters: U.S. Sees Less High School Sex, AIDS Risk

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

U.S. Sees Less High School Sex, AIDS Risk

Reuters NewMedia - Thursday June 3, 1999
Mike Cooper

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Education and counseling programs in eight large U.S. cities with high rates of AIDS have increased condom use by high school students and reduced the number of sexually active youths, health officials said Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said surveys of more than 40,000 public-school students in grades nine through 12 showed that they were less sexually active and more likely to use condoms in 1997 than students were in 1991.

In all eight cities, there were declines in the number of students who had ever had sexual intercourse, who had already had four or more sexual partners, or who had sexual intercourse in the three months preceding the survey.

The proportion of students who had used condoms during their last sexual intercourse also increased, the CDC said.

The CDC based its findings on questionnaires given to students in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1997.

"During the 1990s, there's been a concerted effort in these cities as well as cities throughout the country to reduce the risk of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy among youth," said Laura Kann of the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion.

She said prevention programs have involved families, churches, schools, health and community agencies. "These data really suggest that prevention efforts are making a difference in the lives of youth," Kann said.

The CDC said some of the biggest changes occurred in Chicago, where high school students learn how to develop social skills to avoid peer pressure. In Boston and Miami, schools are required to use a curriculum that emphasizes reducing risky sexual behavior.

In Dallas, an AIDS prevention program is backed by school nursing and counseling services, the CDC said.

While the percentage of students who had ever had sexual intercourse declined in all eight cities during the 1990s, the CDC said the decline was statistically significant only in Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Fort Lauderdale. Among those cities, the decrease ranged from 7 percent in Dallas to 16 percent in Chicago. The percentage of students who had already had four or more sexual partners also decreased significantly in the same four cities, with the decrease ranging from 12 percent in Fort Lauderdale to 33 percent in Chicago.

The CDC said the decline in the percentage of students who had sexual intercourse in the three months before the survey was statistically significant in Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia, ranging from an 8 percent drop in Dallas to a 16 percent decline in Chicago.

Condom use increased significantly in Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Jersey City, Miami, and Philadelphia between 1991 to 1997, ranging from a 25 percent increase in Dallas to a 52 percent increase in Jersey City.

The health agency said AIDS was the seventh-leading cause of death among persons aged 15 to 24 in the United States during 1997.
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