U.S. Youth Need Better Sex Education

Birth rates among U.S. teens increased in 2006 and 2007, following large declines from 1991 to 2005, according to a new U.S. government study. It found that previously improving trends in teens' and young adults' sexual and reproductive health have flattened or may be worsening in some cases , ABC News reports.

Photo: U.S. Youth Need Better Sex Education

Meanwhile, the study stated there were roughly 745,000 pregnancies among U.S. females under age 20 in 2004. In 2006, the majority of new diagnoses of human immunodeficiency virus infection among teenagers and young adults between the ages of 10-24 took place among those ages 20-24 and among males.

In a the study released Thursday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that teen birthrates increased in 2006 and 2007 after large declines from 1991 to 2005. The rates of AIDS cases among males ages 15-24 increased from 1997 through 2006, eFitnessNow reports.

U.S. teens are getting sex education, but most are not learning about birth control from their parents, new government data showed on Thursday.
And rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases reflect this -- the annual rate of AIDS diagnoses for boys aged 15 to 19 years has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, and rates of syphilis are also up.
The numbers show that U.S. youth need better sex education, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, Reuters reports.