The American Journal of Public Health reports that 86 percent of the recent decline in U.S. teen pregnancy rates is the result of improved contraceptive use, while a small proportion of the decline (14 percent) can be attributed to teens waiting longer to start having sex. The article's author John Santelli, of the Mailman School of Public Health, said the findings indicate that abstinence promotion, in itself, is insufficient to help adolescents prevent unintended pregnancies. The report states that between 1995 and 2002, U.S. teen pregnancy rates declined by almost one-quarter (24 percent). When broken down by age, delays in sexual activity played a greater role for younger teens aged 15-17 (23 percent of the decline). Among 18-19-year-olds, the decline in the risk of teen pregnancy was entirely attributable to improved contraceptive use.
"The United States seems to be following the recent patterns in other developed countries where increased availability and use of modern contraceptives and condoms have led to remarkable declines in teen pregnancy," said Santelli. "If most of the progress in reducing teen pregnancy rates is due to improved contraceptive use, national policy needs to catch up with those realities."
Santelli questions the value of the federal government's funding of abstinence-only education programs that prohibit information about the benefits of condoms and contraception. He suggests that public policies and programs in the United States should vigorously promote provision of accurate information on contraception and on sexual behavior and relationships, including condom and contraceptive use and pregnancy planning.
Source: Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
