Study: British choosing more sex partners

LONDON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Sexually active British men and women are choosing more sexual partners and increasingly are engaging in concurrent partnerships, according to a new study released Thursday.

The researchers took the pulse of Britain's prevailing sexual attitudes and lifestyles using a computerized survey that questioned 11,000 men and women ages 16 to 44.

The results suggest that while Britons appear to be engaging in more sexually risky behavior, that trend is offset by an increase in condom use. The findings were published in the "United Kingdom National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal 2000)."

Both men and women showed an increase in numbers of heteorsexual partners compared to the results of the last survey in 1990. Homosexual partnerships also were on the rise. In addition, oral-genital contact and heterosexual anal sex increased.

The survey also showed a sustained and consistent increase in condom use. However, the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia was found to be more prevalent than previously believed and, contrary to previous findings, mostly among young men.

"We've seen a number of rises in a variety of HIV-risky behaviors," said Dr. Wendy Macdowall, Natsal researcher from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"We've also seen a dramatic increase in condom use among 16 to 19 year olds. Over 80 percent are using condoms at first intercourse and we were quite surprised by that finding," she said.

Macdowell said prior to the study, the researchers predicted they would find a decline in condom use because complacency may have set in and because national funding for public education on HIV had decreased since 1990. Instead, they found just the opposite.

The findings reflect a changing social climate from just a decade ago, Macdowall said. "There is more willingness to report [sexual practices] and also better methodology used in the survey."

The biggest change in sexual behavior was seen among women and among rural residents.

"Women are catching up with men in terms of their sexual practices and the rest of the U.K. is catching up with London," she said. "People are more tolerant of same sex relationships and of one-night stands. But people are less tolerant of infidelity outside of stable relationships."

The findings have implications beyond the United Kingdom, claimed Dr. Ralph DiClemente, a behavioral sciences and health education researcher at Emory University in Atlanta.

"A key finding was that most of the young people learned about sex in schools," he said. "It suggests that we may be doing a disservice to young people if we don't provide sex education and indeed we may be jeopardizing their health and well-being."

"Sometimes we overlook the damage that could be averted if we could change -- only slightly -- sexual behavior," said DiClemente, who noted STDs cost the U.S. economy an estimated $17 billion in 1996.