While teen pregnancy is everyone's worry, there is good news. The phenomenon is on the decline, according to a 2003 study and its recent follow up. The United States non-profit organization, called the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, commissioned these studies as part of its 2006 mission to reduce pregnancies by teens by a third by the year 2015.



What these researchers found is that while teen pregnancy is still high it is already on the decline.

The U.S. rate of teen pregnancy went down 36 percent from 1990 to 2002, according to a study by the research firm Guttmacher Institute. In a subsequent study of teen pregnancy between 1991 and 2004 there was yet another one third decline. This study was confirmed by data of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the United States' Centers of Disease Control and prevention.

Other encouraging details from these reports include these facts and statistics:

The pregnancy rate of sexually experienced girls and women between 15 and 19 years old declined 28 percent between 1990 and 2002.

The rate of babies born to U.S. women and girls 15-19 years old reached a record low of 41.1 of every 1000 females in this age group. In 1991 this number had been 61.8 of every 1000.

In 2002 the pregnancy rate was 74.5 for every 1000 U.S. females between 15 and 19 years old. This number is way down from the peak number recorded in 1990 - 116.9 for every 1000 U.S. females 15-19 years old.

Every ethnic group in the U.S. has experienced a decline in the rate of females 15-19 giving birth from 1991 to 2004. For Hispanics the reduction is 21 percent, for Asians and Pacific Islanders the rate is down 37 percent, for Caucasians it is down 38 percent and for blacks it is nearly cut in half - a 47 percent decrease.

As part of its mission, NCPTP hosts a National Day to prevent teen pregnancy each May. Teen females countrywide are asked to take a short online quiz about what their behavior might be in several sexual situations. The point of the quiz is to drive home to the teens that early pregnancy and the resulting parenthood are to be avoided.

The National Day is supported nationwide, by magazines and other media and organizations. In 2006 more than 2000 groups participated as National Day partners, and over 800,000 girls and women took the quiz. The message driven home to these young girls is that sex has consequences you may not want. The Web-based quiz is offered in both English and Spanish.

A survey conducted of 1600 of these females who took the quiz reported encouraging results. More than half said they discussed the quiz scenarios with their friends. More than half also said they were driven to think about things they hadn't pondered before. 69 percent admitted that the risks of sex and pregnancy now seemed more real, and 83 percent said they were now thinking about what they would do in sexually charged situations, as a result of the quiz.