As teen births go down, Drug use goes up!

<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbM9w6awMepGiWCnlnaYZH81jAhwv3jt-JffFKi3pUtedZ4dpRz2n4P8ns7uQe5yQnvxqSCAziaObR3WFjrKOSl_On6TiQgVhDthUNy8FTFV1WW1h39hAgtCmXJnfUAShQAJjGGcL9X5N3/s1600/teen-pregnancy-rates-rise-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" /></a>A recent <a href="http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/06/u-s-kids-health-teen-births-down-early-drug-use-up/">CNN blog post </a> discussed areport which showed births to adolescents declined for the second consecutive year.  The report was a compilation of statistics from numerous organizations, in which there was a decline in the U.S. The report stated a drop in the adolescent birth rate, from 21.7 per 1,000 girls ages 15-17 (2008) to 20.1 per 1,000 (2009, preliminary data).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There was also other good news, the report also noted that adolescent injury deaths have also decline. This drop in injury-related deaths among teens ages 15-19 from 44 per 100,000 (2008, preliminary data) to 39 per 100,000 (2009, preliminary data). The number also includes teenage driving deaths. These numbers might be an indication that some legislation has had an impact on teen driving, but the researchers also indicated that there could be multiple factors at play.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8TM5_8GWhO_GVEACUXbA04tsZ5PO4biO_Mk6m1kJK1PD_uKJIwZ53KrDTtgWRnXF_zNxld2K7Hm4si2hr7E6GtiToE-r87t1Tm-r2JIxhyuzjvPi_wlMgJR2CSr7gUFe-xfIyR3TQxaW/s1600/0309_teen_drug_abuse_170x170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" /></a>The report is title America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2011 all though the full report is not yet available, <a href="http://www.childstats.gov/index.asp">previous reports</a> are. The group gathers statistics from asthma cases in children to their test scores in math.  The report is a collection of 22 federal agencies. </div><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Now for the bad news. The report also found a rise in the proportion of eighth graders who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days, from 9 percent (2009) to 10 percent (2010). The report found that more children were likely to live in poverty and fewer children were likely to live with one parent working year round, full time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div>Surely this information bears further scrutiny and helps monitor the well being of America's youth.

As teen births go down, Drug use goes up!

A recent CNN blog post   discussed areport which showed births to adolescents declined for the second consecutive year.  The report was a co...

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Dating male gang members means: Teenager girls more likely to get pregnant!

A study released in the May 2009 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed 237 sexually active females 14 to 19 years of age. They were predominantly from Latino Neighborhoods in San Francisco and examined the relationships between gang exposure and pregnancy for a two-year period between 2001 and 2004. <br /><br /><br />According to Dr. Alexandra Minnis, PhD at the RTI International, the University of California San Francisco and the University of North Carolina, “The significant role of partner’s gang membership in increasing pregnancy risk highlights the importance of addressing the reproductive health needs of gang involved youth. <br /><br />The researchers found that girls’ gang membership did not affect their risk of pregnancy, but girls with gang-affiliated boyfriends were twice as likely to become pregnant as their peers. Girls whose boyfriends spent time in jail were also more likely to become pregnant.<br /><br />Over the length of the study, more than one-fourth (27.4%) of the participants became pregnant. The results found that pregnancy intentions particularly of male partners, played a significant role in the incidence of pregnancies. <br /><br />Minnis suggests that there may be increased perceived social pressures for gang involved youth to have a baby and the belief that pregnancy strengthens the commitment between couples or influences the status of females within a relationship are strong with gang-involved couples.<br /><br />Additional women with gang-involved partners may feel less power to negotiate condom use. <br /><br />Because of this the increased risk of sexually active females in this area posses a serious risk for sexually transmitted infections.

Dating male gang members means: Teenager girls more likely to get pregnant!

A study released in the May 2009 edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology, followed 237 sexually active females 14 to 19 years of age...

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