In an encouraging development, pregnancies among the American teens have dropped by an impressive 63 percent in the last two decades.
The encouraging figures have been provided in a new statistical report of the Central Disease Control (CDC).
The report has some mixed findings about the serious issue of teen pregnancy. The CDC report says, although the percentage has dropped, teens are still delivering around 1,700 babies per week. Experts call it a big concern.
Teen pregnancies are one of the main health concerns in the United States. Experts say the uncalled pregnancies at such a tender age affect the girls both mentally and physically.
The data from the National Vital Statistics System and the National Survey of Family Growth shows the number of pregnancies among teens was high before 1991. However, the trend shows changing gradually with awareness.
CDC Director Tom Frieden said that they have made great progress in terms of reducing teenage pregnancies. He, however, stresses need of more work in this direction.
Highlights of the Report
- 73 percent of the teens were sexually inactive. Also, they had never discussed about sex with their parents.
- Over 80 percent of teens never had any sex education before they had their first sex experience.
- 90 percent of them had used contraception methods. However, they must have gone ineffective as the teens must be unaware about its proper usage.
