Social Issues Affecting America's Children - Teen Sexuality

By the late twentieth century, American teens were more sexually active than previous generations. While sexual activity was rare in young teens, it increased as teens grew older. By the age of seventeen, most teens reported at least one sexual experience. Concurrent with sexual activity were risks of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pregnancy, and dropping out of school.

Sexual Risk Behaviors

The 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the CDC found that 46.7% of teens in grades nine through twelve reported they had ever had sexual intercourse. Just 4.2% of all female students and 10.4% of male students reported their first sexual intercourse occurred before age thirteen. African-American teens were most sexually active. Compared to less than half of all teens who had ever had sexual intercourse, 60.9% of African-American females and 73.8% of males reported having ever had sexual inter-course. While 17.5% of all male teenagers reported they had four or more sexual partners during their lifetime, 41.7% of African-American males claimed four or more partners. (See Table 4.7.)

Risks of pregnancy and acquiring STDs were clearly on the minds of many teens. Almost two-thirds of high

TABLE 4.2

Percentage of high school students who were at risk for becoming or were overweight, 20031, 2
	At risk for becoming overweight			Overweight
Category	Female %	Male %	Total %	Female %	Male %	Total %
1Students who were 85th percentile but 95thpercentile for body mass index, by age and sex, based on reference data.
2Students who were 95th percentile for body mass index, by age and sex, based on reference data.
SOURCE: "Table 58. Percentage of High School Students Who Were at Risk for Becoming or Were Overweight, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004)
Race/ethnicity
White	13.8	14.3	14.1	7.8	16.2	12.2
Black	21.2	15.5	18.3	15.6	19.5	17.6
Hispanic	15.7	19.0	17.3	11.8	21.7	16.8
Grade
9	15.6	15.3	15.4	11.2	19.0	15.3
10	15.3	14.7	15.0	9.3	17.9	13.7
11	16.9	16.6	16.8	8.6	17.0	12.9
12	13.2	15.6	14.4	8.0	14.7	11.4
Total	15.3	15.5	15.4	9.4	17.4	13.5

TABLE 4.3

Percentage of high school students who attended physical education class daily, 2003
	Attended PE class daily*
	Female		Male		Total
Category	%	CI (±)	%	CI (±)	%	CI (±)
*5 days in an average week when they were in school
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 54. Percentage of High School Students Who Were Enrolled in Physical Education (PE), Attended PE Class Daily, and Spent 20 Minutes Exercising or Playing Sports during an Average PE Class, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004)
Race/Ethnicity
White**	23.1	7.3	26.8	7.1	24.9	7.0
Black**	29.0	7.5	37.1	6.0	33.0	6.3
Hispanic	34.0	8.5	39.5	9.0	36.7	8.0
Grade
9	38.0	9.7	37.7	8.5	37.9	8.6
10	29.1	8.8	33.5	7.9	31.3	8.0
11	19.2	4.8	26.0	5.0	22.6	4.6
12	15.2	4.0	21.4	4.9	18.2	4.0
Total	26.4	6.1	30.5	5.7	28.4	5.7

school students reported having used condoms the last time they had sexual intercourse. More than one-fifth of female students reported using birth control pills.

Noncoital Behaviors

The growing perception among young people that noncoital behaviors (avoiding the actual physical union of male and female genitalia) were not "sex" placed more teens at risk. A study by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit

TABLE 4.4

Percentage of high school students who watched 3 or more hours of television per day, 2003
	Watched ≥3 hours/day of TV
Category	Female %	Male %	Total %
SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 56. Percentage of High School Students Who Did Strengthening Exercises, Played on One or More Sports Teams, and Who Watched 3 Hours/Day of Television, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004)
Race/ethnicity
White	26.8	31.7	29.3
Black	70.0	64.3	67.2
Hispanic	45.1	46.8	45.9
Grade
9	41.2	46.5	44.0
10	39.0	42.9	41.0
11	34.7	34.1	34.4
12	31.3	29.9	30.6
Total	37.0	39.3	38.2

policy research organization based in Washington, D.C., showed that while 55% of teenage males stated they had had vaginal sex, two-thirds had experienced oral or anal sex or had been masturbated by a female.

Researchers and public health experts found that many young people perceived these noncoital behaviors as something other than sex—and sometimes even believed they were being sexually abstinent while participating in noncoital sexual behavior. While noncoital behaviors avoided the risk of pregnancy, teens engaged in these behaviors remained at risk for exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.

TABLE 4.5

Percentage of high school students who described themselves as overweight and who were trying to lose weight, 2003
	Described themselves as overweight			Were trying to lose weight
Category	Female %	Male %	Total %	Female %	Male %	Total %
SOURCE: "Table 60. Percentage of High School Students Who Described Themselves as Slightly or Very Overweight and Who Were Trying to Lose Weight, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2,Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004)
Race/ethnicity
White	38.5	23.5	30.8	62.6	27.9	44.8
Black	26.4	17.9	22.3	46.7	22.7	34.7
Hispanic	36.1	27.1	31.6	61.7	37.4	49.4
Grade
9	33.1	22.6	27.7	54.1	31.2	42.2
10	36.1	23.2	29.6	62.2	28.3	45.1
11	36.9	24.3	30.5	60.4	28.3	44.1
12	38.7	24.1	31.4	61.7	28.0	44.6
Total	36.1	23.5	29.6	59.3	29.1	43.8

TABLE 4.6

Percentage of high school students who engaged in unhealthy behaviors associated with weight control, 20031
	Went without eating for ≥24 hours to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight			Took diet pills, powders, or liquids to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight2			Vomited or took laxatives to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight
Category	Female %	Male %	Total %	Female %	Male %	Total %	Female %	Male %	Total %
1During the 30 days preceding the survey.
2Without a doctor's advice.
SOURCE: "Table 64. Percentage of High School Students Who Engaged in Unhealthy Behaviors Associated with Weight Control, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004)
Race/ethnicity
White	18.4	7.1	12.5	13.0	6.8	9.8	8.5	2.7	5.5
Black	14.5	10.5	12.5	5.1	4.9	5.0	5.6	5.0	5.3
Hispanic	18.2	9.2	13.7	11.7	9.2	10.5	9.7	5.1	7.4
Grade
9	18.8	10.7	14.6	9.2	7.0	8.0	7.9	4.6	6.2
10	18.5	7.0	12.7	10.9	5.8	8.3	9.3	3.5	6.4
11	19.6	8.2	13.8	12.6	7.7	10.1	8.8	2.6	5.7
12	15.7	6.9	11.2	13.0	8.5	10.8	7.3	3.8	5.5
Total	18.3	8.5	13.3	11.3	7.1	9.2	8.4	3.7	6.0