Teen Birth Rate Continues
to Decline; African-American Teens Show Sharpest Drop
Final 2002 United
States Birth Data Now Available
For Immediate Release:
December 17, 2003
Contact: NCHS/CDC Public
Affairs
(301) 458-4800
E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov
Births: Final Data for 2002.114 pp. (PHS)
2004-1120. View/download PDF7.8 MB
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) today released the annual detailed report on
birth statistics for the Nation, which shows a continued decline in the
teenage birth rate with the sharpest drop in births for African-American
teens.
"Births: Final Data for
2002," from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows that the teen
birth rate declined by 30 percent over the past decade to a historic low
and that the rate for black teens was down by more than 40 percent. For
young black teens (15 to 17 years) the results were even more striking—the rate
was cut in half since 1991.
The report documents
other record findings:
The average age at first
birth was 25.1 years in 2002, an all-time high in the United States. In
1970 the average age at first birth was 21.4 years.
Birth rates for women
35-39 (41 births per 1,000 women) and 40-44 (8 per 1,000) were the highest in
more than three decades. The rate for women ages 20-24 (104 births per 1,000
women) was on the decline and the rate for those 25-29 was stable, but still
the highest of all age groups, at 114 per 1,000 women. In contrast, the
rate for teens was 43 per 1,000.
The number of births to
unmarried women reached a record high of 1,365,966 in 2002, up 1 percent
from 2001. This increase reflected the growing number of unmarried women
rather than an increase in the rate, which was stable at 44 births per 1,000
unmarried women. The birth rate for unmarried teenagers continued to
decline.
Just over 1 in 10 women
smoked during pregnancy in 2002, a decline of 42 percent since these data
were first collected in 1989. Smoking declined for all age groups and most
race and Hispanic origin groups in 2002.
Cesarean deliveries
increased 7 percent from 2001 to 2002 to reach a rate of 26.1 percent of all
births, the highest ever reported in the United States.
The preterm birth rate
(less than 37 completed weeks of gestation) rose to 12.1 percent in 2002,
and has risen 14 percent since 1990, reflecting in part the rising multiple
birth rate. However, the preterm rate for single births has also risen, up 7
percent from 1990.
The twin birth rate
continued to rise, increasing 3 percent between 2001 and 2002 to 31 twin
births per 1,000 births. This rate has risen 38 percent since 1990 and 65
percent since 1980.
The rate for triplets and
other higher order multiple births dropped slightly to 184 per 100,000 in
2002, the third decline in the last 4 years after an increase of more
than 400 percent between 1980 and 1998.
The new report covers a
number of key findings not addressed in the 2002 preliminary birth report
issued last spring as well as more detail and updated findings on some
topics presented then. This report includes trends, data by State, and
detailed data by race and ethnicity.
Data on births are based
on information reported on the birth certificates filed in State vital
statistics offices and reported to CDC through the National Vital Statistics
System. The report is available on CDC’s
National Center for Health Statistics Web site.
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