Events Calendar
In This Section
Health reform passes hurdle in Senate
U.S. courts and tribunals have separate set of rules
Hasan to stay in confinement till court-martial
Technology aims to keep drivers' attention on road
Wall Street finds profit in the mortgage mess
Palin attracts big crowds, rekindles campaign spirit
Historic health care bill nears key Senate vote
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Mike Stobbe
Associated Press
POSTED: 02:02 p.m. EST, Jan 07, 2009
ATLANTA: Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, according to a new federal report released today.
Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The teen pregnancy rate in Texas and New Mexico was more than 50 percent higher.
The three states have large proportions of black and Hispanic teenagers — groups that traditionally have higher birth rates, experts noted.
The lowest teen birth rates continue to be in New England, where three states have teen birth rates at just half the national average. Ohio was slightly below the national average.
It's not clear why Mississippi surged into first place. The state's one-year increase of nearly 1,000 teen births could be a statistical blip, said Ron Cossman, a Mississippi State University researcher who focuses on children's health statistics.
More than a year ago, a preliminary report on the 2006 data revealed that the U.S. teen birth rate had risen for the first time in about 15 years. But the new numbers provide the first state-by-state information on the increase.
The new report is based on a review of all the birth certificates in 2006. Significant increases in teen birth rates were noted in 26 states.
''It's pretty much across the board'' nationally, said Brady Hamilton, a CDC statistician who worked on the report.
About 435,000 of the nation's 4.3 million births in 2006 were to mothers ages 15 through 19. That was about 21,000 more teen births than in 2005.
Numerically, the largest increases were in the states with the largest populations. California, Texas and Florida together generated almost 30 percent of the nation's extra teen births in 2006.
Some experts have blamed the national increase on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that does not teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception. They said that would explain why teen birth rate increases have been detected across much of the country and not just in a few spots.
There is debate about that, however. Some conservative organizations have argued that contraceptive-focused sex education is still common, and that the new teen birth numbers reflect it is failing.
Other factors include the escalating cost of some types of birth control and their unavailability in some communities, said Stephanie Birch, who directs maternal and child health programs for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Glowing media portrayals of celebrity pregnancies don't help, either, she said. ''They make it out to be very glamorous,'' said Birch, who cited a calculation by Alaska officials that teen pregnancies were up 6 percent in that state in 2006.
In Mississippi, there were about 68 births for every 1,000 women, ages 15 through 19 in 2006. The New Mexico rate was 64 per 1,000; Texas was 63.
The national birth rate for females in that age group was about 42 per 1,000. Ohio had 40 per 1,000. New Hampshire, with a rate of 19 per 1,000, was the nation's lowest.
A variety of factors influence teen pregnancy rates, including culture, poverty and racial demographics. For those and other reasons, kids in mostly white New England likely would delay child birth, said David Landry, a researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based organization which supports abortion rights and gathers research on sexual and reproductive health.
''It's more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen birth than for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they'll miss,'' he said.
ATLANTA: Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, according to a new federal report released today.
Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The teen pregnancy rate in Texas and New Mexico was more than 50 percent higher.
The three states have large proportions of black and Hispanic teenagers — groups that traditionally have higher birth rates, experts noted.
The lowest teen birth rates continue to be in New England, where three states have teen birth rates at just half the national average. Ohio was slightly below the national average.
It's not clear why Mississippi surged into first place. The state's one-year increase of nearly 1,000 teen births could be a statistical blip, said Ron Cossman, a Mississippi State University researcher who focuses on children's health statistics.
More than a year ago, a preliminary report on the 2006 data revealed that the U.S. teen birth rate had risen for the first time in about 15 years. But the new numbers provide the first state-by-state information on the increase.
The new report is based on a review of all the birth certificates in 2006. Significant increases in teen birth rates were noted in 26 states.
''It's pretty much across the board'' nationally, said Brady Hamilton, a CDC statistician who worked on the report.
About 435,000 of the nation's 4.3 million births in 2006 were to mothers ages 15 through 19. That was about 21,000 more teen births than in 2005.
Numerically, the largest increases were in the states with the largest populations. California, Texas and Florida together generated almost 30 percent of the nation's extra teen births in 2006.
Some experts have blamed the national increase on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that does not teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception. They said that would explain why teen birth rate increases have been detected across much of the country and not just in a few spots.
There is debate about that, however. Some conservative organizations have argued that contraceptive-focused sex education is still common, and that the new teen birth numbers reflect it is failing.
Other factors include the escalating cost of some types of birth control and their unavailability in some communities, said Stephanie Birch, who directs maternal and child health programs for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Glowing media portrayals of celebrity pregnancies don't help, either, she said. ''They make it out to be very glamorous,'' said Birch, who cited a calculation by Alaska officials that teen pregnancies were up 6 percent in that state in 2006.
In Mississippi, there were about 68 births for every 1,000 women, ages 15 through 19 in 2006. The New Mexico rate was 64 per 1,000; Texas was 63.
The national birth rate for females in that age group was about 42 per 1,000. Ohio had 40 per 1,000. New Hampshire, with a rate of 19 per 1,000, was the nation's lowest.
A variety of factors influence teen pregnancy rates, including culture, poverty and racial demographics. For those and other reasons, kids in mostly white New England likely would delay child birth, said David Landry, a researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based organization which supports abortion rights and gathers research on sexual and reproductive health.
''It's more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen birth than for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they'll miss,'' he said.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Braxton, MS
Posted 12:26 PM, 01/13/2009
Although I accept and respect these facts and opinions, I offensively disagree. Being a pregnant teen and teen mother FROM Mississippi AND the South has not caused me to miss out on anything that I did not deserve to miss out on. Also according to those “opportunities” that are presented to teens in the Northeast and not in the South, I also disagree. Before I became pregnant, I was captain of my varsity cheerleading squad, I held the title of Simpson County’s Junior Miss, I graduated valedictorian of my high school with a GPA of 99.962, and currently have a 4.0 GPA at the college I attend, where I also received a full-paid scholarship because of my merit, NOT my situation. I do understand and accept the facts presented in this article, but if taking responsibility for my actions and “missing out on opportunities” for those actions is lamentable, unfortunate, and regrettable, I do not wish to be the glamorous and positive topic of this article. I humbly and contently accept my stereotype.
