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Adolescent Reproductive Health: Home |
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When teens give birth, their future prospects and those of their children
decline. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and more
likely to live in poverty than other teens. Pregnant teens aged 15–19 years
are less likely to receive prenatal care and gain appropriate weight and
more likely to smoke than pregnant women aged 20 years or older. These
factors are also associated with poor birth outcomes.
About one-third of girls in the
United States get pregnant before age 20. In 2006, a total of 435,427
infants were born to mothers aged 15–19 years, a birth rate of 41.9 live
births per 1,000 women in this age group.1 More than 80% of these
births were unintended, meaning they occurred sooner than desired or were
not wanted at any time.2 Although pregnancy and birth rates among
girls aged 15–19 years have declined 34% since 1991, birth rates increased
for the first time in 2006 (from 40.5 per 1,000 women in this age group in
2005 to 41.9 in 2006).1 It is too early to tell whether this
increase is a trend or a one-time fluctuation in teen birth rates.
Teen Pregnancy
fact sheet is available in
English (PDF 96-KB) and
en Español (PDF 113-KB).
For state-by-state data see
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.*
Health Disparities
Major disparities exist in pregnancy, birth, sexual transmitted diseases
(STDs),
and HIV rates. In 2005, Washington, D.C., had the highest teen birth rate in
the country (63.4 per 1,000), and states Texas and New Mexico with the highest
rates (61.6 each); New Hampshire had the lowest teen birth rate (17.9).4 In
2006, the overall birth rate for 15– to 19– year-old females was 41.9, but—
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the
rate was 83 among Hispanics (twice the overall rate),
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63.7 among non-Hispanic blacks (however, blacks have a slightly higher
teen pregnancy rate than Hispanics),
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54.7 among American Indian or Alaska Natives, and
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26.6 among non-Hispanic whites.
Sixty-nine percent of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed
in 13– to 19– year-olds in 2005 were among black youth, although only 17% of
youth in the 33 reporting states were black. Among male youth aged 13–24
years, the vast majority (over 75%) of HIV/AIDS cases involve transmission
of the virus through male-to-male sexual contact.5 Among females aged
13–24, the main route of HIV/AIDS transmission is through high-risk
heterosexual contact (85% of cases).5 CDC’s
2006 STD Surveillance Report show higher rates of all STDs among
minority racial and ethnic populations when compared to whites, with the
exception of Asians/Pacific Islanders. While some of these disparities may
be because of increased testing and reporting among some populations; such as,
public health clinics, much work remains to improve health
promotion and prevention efforts among youth and communities facing these
disparities in adolescent reproductive health.
For more information see
Health Disparities
in HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB.
What More Needs to be Done?
International comparisons show that the United
States could do much better in improving teen pregnancy and birth
rates. U.S. teen pregnancy and teen birth rates are the second highest among
46 countries in the developed world.3 These data show that U.S. teens’
sexual behavior is similar to teens of other developed countries in terms of
when they start to have sex and how often they are having it. Yet, U.S.
teens are less likely to use contraception or to consistently use more
effective methods of contraception when compared to the teens of several
other developed countries.6 Recent data show that 77% of the decline in
teen pregnancy rates among U.S. teens aged 15–17 years is because teens have
increased their use of contraception and 23% of the decline is because teens
are having less sex.7 Among older U.S. teens, 18– to 19– years-old, these data show
that all the reduction in pregnancy risk was related to increased
contraceptive use.7 Organizations such as
Advocates for Youth* and the
National Campaign to
Prevent Teen Pregnancy* have identified effective programs to
promote healthy decision-making among teenagers; such as, reducing numbers of
partners, delaying initiation of sex, and increasing contraception and
condom use. Although this is encouraging, much work remains to identify
additional innovative interventions that address the social, cultural, and
environmental influences on teen pregnancy. There is also a need to find
better ways of disseminating evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy
prevention, so that effective interventions are more widely used.
More on effective programs:
Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Replicating
Effective Programs Plus
Diffusion of Effective
Behavioral Interventions*
Source:
- Hamilton BE, Martin JA,
Ventura SJ. Births: preliminary data for 2006.
National Vital Statistics
Reports 2007;56(7).
- Chandra A, Martinez GM,
Mosher WD, Abma JC, Jones J. Fertility, family planning, and
reproductive health of U.S. women: data from the 2002 National Survey of
Family Growth. Vital
Health Statistics
2005;23(25).
- Singh S and Darroch JE. Adolescent Pregnancy and childbearing levels
and trends in developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives
2000;32(1):14–23. Available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3201400.html*
(Accessed June 6, 2007).
- Martin JA, Hamilton BE,
Sutton PD, Ventura SJ, Menacker F, Kirmeyer S, Muson ML. Birth: Final
data for 2005. National vital statistics reports 2007;56(6).
- CDC, HIV/AIDS surveillance in adolescents and young adults
(through 2005). Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/slides/adolescents/index.htm.
- Darroch JE, Singh S, Frost JJ, and the Study Team. Differences in
teen pregnancy rates among five developed countries: the roles of sexual
activity and contraceptive use. Family Planning Perspectives
2001;33(6):244–250,281.
- Santelli JS, Lindberg LD, Finer LB, Singh S. Explaining recent
declines in adolescent pregnancy in the United States: the contributions
of abstinence and improved contraceptive use. American Journal of
Public Health 2007;97(1):150–156.
Division of Reproductive Health's
Adolescent Reproductive Health
The Adolescent Reproductive Health program promotes reproductive health
among young people, with a primary focus on preventing unintended pregnancy
among young people aged 10–24 years. Science-based approaches are the
foundation of our work as we build partnerships to prevent sexual risk
behaviors and mistimed or unwanted pregnancies, and support positive
youth development.
CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health's Unintended Pregnancy, STD, HIV,
Intervention Research (USHIR)
Our mission is to conduct integrative research to prevent HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy and promote health among
women of reproductive age, their partners, and their children.
CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH): Healthy Youth!
CDC seeks to prevent the most serious health risk behaviors among children,
adolescents and young adults.
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral
Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
CDC’s Division of STD Prevention
CDC’s Vaccines & Immunizations page:
HPV Vaccine (Human
Papillomavirus and the Vaccine)
Unintended and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Data and Statistics
Teen Birth Rate Rises for First Time in 15 Years
“Births: Preliminary Data for 2006,” from CDC’s National Center for
Health Statistics shows that between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for
teenagers 15– to 19– years-old rose 3 percent, from 40.5
births per 1,000 in 2005 to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006.
This follows a 14-year downward trend in which the teen birth rate fell
by 34 percent from its recent peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991.
NCHS release: December 5, 2007.
Teen Delaying
Sexual Activity: Using Contraception More Effectively
The report from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows that
sexual activity declined significantly for younger teenage girls and for
teenage boys between 1995 and 2002, and teen contraceptive use improved
in significant ways. NCHS release: December 10, 2004.
Effect of Revised Population Counts on County-Level Hispanic
Teen
Birthrates—United States, 1999
CDC analyzed county-level estimates of Hispanic teen birthrates for 1999.
This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that
Hispanic teen birthrates for 1999, when calculated on the basis of the
2000 census, were lower than birthrates based on the 1990 census for the
majority of counties with substantial Hispanic populations. Source: MMWR, 2004;53(40):946–949.
Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and
Childbearing, 2002. Series No. 23, Volume 24
PDF 710KB.
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Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.
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Page last reviewed:
10/8/08
Page last modified: 10/8/08
Content source:
Division of Reproductive Health,
National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
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