4 - 6 Youth who initiate vaginal intercourse at age 14 or younger are more likely to have multiple lifetime sexual partners, engage in greater frequency of sex, use alcohol or drugs before sex, and have sex without a condom compared to youth who initiate sex at an older age. 3Įarly sexual initiation has been associated with an increased risk of pregnancy and STI. 1 Although black teens represent only 17% of US teenagers, they account for 70% of HIV/AIDS cases reported among teens. Birth rates among Hispanic and black teens remain higher than other racial/ethnic groups, including rates among those aged 10-14 years.
2 Minority youth are disproportionately affected. 1 In 2000, youth between the ages of 15 and 24 accounted for 9.1 million (48%) of all new STI cases. In 2006, births to mothers aged 15-19 years increased for the first time since the early 1990s. Although adolescent pregnancy rates have declined steadily in the United States over the past decade, adolescent births and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain serious public health issues.
