Teenage Pregnancy News and Research

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Minnesota Foundation announces collaborative effort to improve health of underserved populations

In a report released this week, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation highlights the accomplishments of a collaborative effort to improve the health of underserved populations through the training and use of community health workers, titled Community health workers in Minnesota: Bridging barriers, expanding access, improving health.

12 Oct 2010

HHS awards $5 million grant to support teen pregnancy prevention programs

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS), in partnership with three community-based organizations, has been awarded a five-year, $5 million grant from the Department of Heath and Human Service's (HHS) Office of Adolescent Health. This grant is part of a $155 million commitment by HHS to support the replication of teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research as well as the testing of new, innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy.

12 Oct 2010

Teen sex on the rise and so are STIs: Survey

A survey of 8,800 Australian year 10 and year 12 students in 300 schools around Australia was taken in three snapshots between 1997 and 2008. It was found that with the rise of risky alcohol consumption among Australia's teenagers there is also a surge of sex “under the influence” and number of sexual partners and unsafe and unprotected intercourse. However, the awareness of HIV/AIDS remained high.

6 Oct 2010

UTHealth receives funds for teen pregnancy prevention program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $15 million of its $155-million total package to a team led by Susan Tortolero, Ph.D., director of the UTHealth Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research.

3 Oct 2010

Pregnancy clinics in schools

According to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), pregnant women under 20 often felt excluded from antenatal care in hospitals. Teachers have thus welcomed the proposal to set up antenatal clinics in schools to care for pregnant teenagers. The services would provide advice on nutrition, staying healthy while pregnant, carry out routine tests and monitor the pregnancy while in the latter stages classes may be provided to prepare the woman for the birth.

23 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

"The health ministry has formed a committee to frame a policy for antibiotic use, following an uproar over a Lancet study that traced a drug-resistant bacterial superbug's origins to India," LiveMint.com reports. The panel will also look into the "excessive use of antibiotics among Indians," partly fueled by self-medication, that has increased resistance to the drugs. The article notes that the Indian government "rejected the findings of the report" but has "taken note of a lack of policy on antibiotics" (Pandeya, 9/3).

7 Sep 2010

Pregnant teenagers at higher risk of preterm delivery

Pregnant women aged 14-17 years are at higher risk of preterm birth and of having a child with low-birth-weight, especially if they are having their second child. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth demonstrate this association and call for better health education and the promotion of contraception after a teenager has given birth for the first time.

9 Jul 2010

A 2% decline in U.S. birth rate including teenage births

According to Government statistics released this Tuesday, the birthrate in the United States has dropped by 2% from 2007 to 2008 with about 4.2 million babies born during this time. This drop also means that the fertility rate has gone below 2.1 children per woman. This statistic means that Americans are not giving birth to enough children to keep the population from declining.

7 Apr 2010

Research roundup: Raising seniors' co-pays increases costs; The stimulus and safety net providers

New England Journal of Medicine: Increased Ambulatory Care Copayments And Hospitalizations Among The Elderly - This study examines the consequences of increasing copayments for outpatient care of Medicare enrollees in managed-care plans. "As compared with matched control plans in which copayments for ambulatory care were unchanged, Medicare plans that increased these copayments by an average of 95% for primary care and 74% for specialty care had a reduction in the number of outpatient visits but an increase in hospital admissions, in the number of days of hospital care, and in the proportion of enrollees who used hospital care," the authors write.

30 Jan 2010

Media examines food summit reaction, malnutrition in Liberia, Yemen

VOA News reports on reactions from last week's U.N. World Summit on Food Security in Rome: "The delegates in Rome promised to continue efforts to reduce by half the number of hungry people by two thousand fifteen. But critics pointed out that world leaders made a similar promise more than ten years ago. Several countries promised to increase aid for agriculture, to help developing nations become more independent. Still, critics deplored a lack of greater action" (Simms, 11/22).

23 Nov 2009

Criminal behavior intervention program found to reduce teens' rate of pregnancy

A program aimed at reducing criminal behavior in juvenile justice teens has yielded a surprising side benefit. The program is also reducing the teens' rate of pregnancy, according to a new study out this week.

1 Jun 2009

Parents needed to help curb teenage births among Hispanics, group says

A coalition of Hispanic organizations on Tuesday urged parents of Hispanic teenagers to talk with their children about sex to curb the high teenage birth rate among the group, the McClatchy/Miami Herald reports.

20 May 2009

Teacher-student relationships in Kenyan province places girls at increased risk for HIV, education official says

An increasing number of sexual relationships between teachers and students in Kenya's Nyanza province is placing girls at increased risk of HIV/AIDS, Geoffrey Cherongis, Nyanza's provincial director of education, said recently, IRIN/Plus News reports. Cherongis said that some HIV-positive teachers engage in sexual relations with female students and spread the virus to "young girls who hardly know the kind of thing they are getting into."

31 Mar 2009

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Hennepin County Medical Center, a Minneapolis-based hospital that "offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the American medical establishment."

30 Mar 2009

Peer-led sex education does not reduce abortions among teenagers

A trial of peer-led sex education in schools in England has found that it is not more effective at reducing teenage abortions than the sex education classes given by teachers.

24 Nov 2008

Alcohol advice needs to play a greater role in sex education for teenagers

Alcohol and attitudes are two of the key factors that health professionals need to be aware of when they are dealing with sexually active teenagers.

6 Nov 2008

Watching lots of sexual content on TV linked to subsequent teen pregnancy

Adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

4 Nov 2008

New WHO efforts to save the lives of women and newborns

During the next five years, we will enhance support to the countries with the highest maternal mortality. We will support countries in strengthening their health systems to achieve the two MDG 5 targets of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75% and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015. Our joint efforts will also contribute to achieving MDG 4: "To reduce child mortality".

25 Sep 2008

Fourth edition of the British National Formulary for Children

The fourth edition of the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) arms health professionals with the information they need to tackle recent controversial health concerns in young people, including rising rates of teenage pregnancy and the increasing incidence of sexually transmitted infections.

3 Jul 2008