Teen birth rate in U.S. reaches record low

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http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=teen16&date=20040716

By Eric D. Tytell
Los Angeles Times

The teen birth rate reached a record low in 2002, dropping to the lowest level since the government started keeping records in the 1940s, according to an annual report on the well-being of U.S. children.

Twenty-three girls per 1,000, ages 15 to 17, gave birth in 2002, a decrease of 40 percent since 1991, according to the report. Births among girls ages 18 to 19 also dropped to historic lows. The largest decreases were among black teens, who once had the highest rates.

When the teen-pregnancy rate was climbing in the late 1980s, "people got really energized and started a lot of programs that got the teenagers' attention," said Stephanie Ventura, of the National Center for Health Statistics.

As a result, teens have been using contraceptives more often, particularly condoms, and are having sex less often or abstaining entirely.

While the report contained mostly good news, it also highlighted several negative issues, including a slight increase in infant mortality in 2002 to seven deaths per 1,000 births, and childhood obesity.

As children grow up, they are increasingly getting too heavy, the report found. Mirroring the growth in obesity among adults, 16 percent of children are now overweight, up from 6 percent in 1980.