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Article: Teen pregnancy update.(AGES & STAGES)
- Article from:
- National Women's Health Report
- Article date:
- March 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 National Women's Health Resource Center. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Remember the early 1990s? When politicians, public health experts and social scientists were ringing their hands over skyrocketing teenage pregnancy rates in this country? Well, welcome to the 21st century and what experts call one of the greatest public health success stories in decades. (1)
Teen pregnancy rates declined 28 percent between 1990 and 2000. And since 1991, when teenage births peaked at 62 for every 1,000 teenaged girls aged 15 to 19, the rate has plummeted to 41--a 33 percent drop. The drop has been even greater for African-American teens, plunging more than half for those 15 to 17, and dropping 45 percent overall. (1) Meanwhile, in 2003 the birth ...