More teens using birth control during first sex

ATLANTA, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Eight in 10 U.S. male teens used a condom the first time they had sex from 2006 to 2010 -- an increase of 9 percentage points from 2002, health officials say.

A report, "Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth," by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics found about 43 percent of never-married female teens -- 4.4 million -- and about 42 percent of never-married male teens -- 4.5 million -- reported sexual intercourse at least once.

Teens having sex has not changed significantly from 2002, but over the past 20 years there has been a decline in the percentages of those who were sexually experienced, the report said.

Seventy-eight percent of female teens ages 15-19 and 85 percent of males used a method of contraception at first sex -- most commonly the condom.

However, the one exception was an increase among males in the use of condoms combined with a partner's use of hormonal contraceptive during a first sexual experience, health officials said.

In addition, there was a significant increase in the percent of female teenagers who used hormonal methods other than the pill, such as injectables and the contraceptive patch, at first sex, the report said. Six percent of female teens used a non-pill hormonal method at first sex in the latest survey compared with 2 percent in 2002, the report said.