Teens Having More Sex and Using Fewer Condoms, U.S. Study Says

June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Teenagers are having more sex than they were in 2001 and condom use declined after the U.S. government increased spending to promote sexual abstinence.

The percentage of teens who said they had sex rose to 47.8 percent last year from 45.6 percent in 2001, according to data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Condom use fell from 63 percent in 2003 to 61.5 percent in 2007, the survey of high school students found.

The Bush administration has more than doubled grants for abstinence programs since 1999 to a proposed $191 million in next year's budget. The programs limit discussions of contraceptives and advocate that teens avoid sex. The CDC study didn't attempt to explain why teen sex isn't declining and condom use isn't rising, as they were during the 1990s.

``We are concerned about what appears to be a flatting-out of sexual risk behaviors,'' said Howell Wechsler, director of CDC's division of adolescent and school health, in a conference call with reporters today.

Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the government's Administration for Children and Families, said he had no immediate comment on the study.

The CDC study also found that Hispanic teenagers more often engaged in risky behavior than black or white teenagers. Hispanic teens were more likely to commit suicide or abuse intravenous drugs than their peers, the study said. More than 1 in 10 Hispanics said they had made a suicide plan in the last 12 months and about 7 percent attempted suicide.

`Do Something'

``That is alarming and unacceptable and we need to do something now,'' said Glenn Flores, professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Hispanic teens' feelings of depression and hopelessness could come from difficulty integrating with American culture and economic strains on many immigrant families, Flores said.

The CDC has surveyed teenagers every two years since 1991. The 2007 results showed fewer teens engaged in risky behavior including sex, drinking and smoking cigarettes when compared with data from 10 to 16 years ago. The upswing in sex began in 2001 and the reduction in condom use began in 2003, the study said.

SOURCE: Shannon Pettypiece, bloomberg.com