New CDC survey data show that by every measure, a decade-long decline in sexual activity among high school students leveled off between 2001 and 2007, and that the rise in condom use by teens plateaued in 2003.
Moreover, the survey found evidence that teen sexual activity may have begun creeping up and condom use might be edging downward, although these trends are not yet confirmed by statisticians.
"The bottom line is: In all these areas, we don't seem to be making the progress we were making before," said Howell Wechsler, acting director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health at CDC, which conducted the survey. "It's very troubling."
The new report did not examine the reasons for the trends, but experts say they could include rising complacency about HIV/AIDS, changing attitudes about sex and pregnancy, shifts in ethnic diversity, and the fact that some teens cannot be persuaded to wait. Others blame movies, books, advertising and cultural messages that glamorize sex.
The data came from CDC's biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which polled 14,103 students representing 157 high schools nationwide. The survey found a slight increase between 2005 and 2007 in the proportion who reported they had ever had sex, had begun having sex before age 13, had engaged in sex within the last three months, and had sex with at least four partners.
The new figures renewed the heated debate about abstinence-focused sex education programs.
The rising trend of teenagers having sex reversed around 1991 because of AIDS and other factors. The 2005 CDC survey showed the first signs that these positive trends might be reversing.
"What's really important here is we're really running out of steam," Wechsler said. "There's no reason for panic, but there is reason for concern."
06/05/08
UNITED STATES: Decline in Teen Sex Levels Off, Survey Shows
Source: Washington Post:: Rob Stein; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention