Virgin Teen And Young Adult Numbers On The Rise

Fewer young adults and teens are engaging in sexual activity according to an extensive federal report that polled 13,495 people. The comparison was made between this report and a report from 2002. Evidence of education seems to be the leading the downward trend. 

Sharon Jayson - USA Today

The study, issued today by the National Center for Health Statistics, reports that 27% of young men and 29% of young women ages 15-24 say they've never had a sexual encounter. That's up slightly from the last such survey in 2002, when 22% of both sexes reported no such contact.

The new data are from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth, based on responses from 13,495 people ages 15-44. It surveyed 7,356 women and 6,139 men.

Age is a factor, says J. Dennis Fortenberry, an adolescent medicine specialist at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, who was not involved in the study.

"As young people progress through their adolescence, increasing proportions of them experience sexual relations with another person," he says. "Some young people make a strong commitment to not having sex for a variety of reasons and some take different paths."

Debbie Roffman, a human sexuality educator in Baltimore who has reviewed the data, says it does appear "that there is a trend toward postponement."

"As to why, there are certainly multiple factors at work," she says. "While greater caution due to fear of physical consequences is likely one, more positive factors are likely to be at play as well.

"For instance, more young people may be choosing to wait for a more quality sexual experience, knowing it is more likely to come with maturity, and/or greater involvement by parents in communicating about sexual values and decision-making and providing greater supervision and monitoring of their children's activities."

Full article and more statistics at yourlife.usatoday.com