Health News
As U.S. teen birthrate reaches 70-year low, Ky. still 7th highest
The teenage birth rate nationwide is the lowest in nearly 70 years, but Kentucky's rate is much higher than the national average ? 46.2 births per 1,000 compared to 34.3 across the U.S.
That ranks it seventh highest in the nation, but the figure is down from 53.1 per 1,000 in 2007. Nationwide, the number is down from 61.8 per 1,000 in 1991. "Young people are being more careful," Sarah Brown, CEO of the
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, told Sharon Jayson of
USA Today.
In 2010, a total of 367,752 infants were born to mothers ages 15 to 19. Mississippi had the highest rate, with 55 teen births per 1,000 and New Hampshire had the lowest with 15.7, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Girls who are having sex for the first time are much more likely to use contraception than their predecessors, notes Laura Lindberg, a senior research associate with the non-profit Guttmacher Institute in New York. She credited the lower teen-birth rate to "the elimination of pelvic exams before receiving prescriptions for hormonal methods, as well as use of long-acting methods such as IUDs." (Read more)
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Fewer Ky. Teens Are Having Sex, And More Teens Are Using Birth Control When They Do; Teen Birth Rates Are At An All-time Low
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Fewer teens are having sex now than did in the last generation, and of those that do, more are using some form of birth-control, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Kentucky...
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Ky. Shows Health Improvements In Kids Count Report, But Is Still Held Back By Poverty; 1/4 Of Children In State Live In Poverty
Overall Child Well-Being by State: 2015By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Kentucky ranks 34th in the nation for overall child well-being, showing the most improvement in health and a significant decrease in teen births in recent years, according...
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Kids Count Shows Ky. Tops In Smoking By Pregnant Mothers, Has A Wide Range Of Local Data About Children's Well-being
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The annual Kids Count report on children's well-being, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates, says the state leads the nation in smoking by pregnant mothers and more...
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Kids Count Report Shows Where Children In Your County And School District Rank, In A Huge Number Of Measures
Conditions have improved slightly for Kentucky children, especially in education and health, and the state's overall well-being ranking has gone up one spot, from 35th to 34th in the nation. But economic conditions for young Kentuckians have...
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Kentucky Continues To Lead Nation In Cancer Death Rate
Though cancer deaths rates are falling nationwide, Kentucky continues to rank worst in the country for its number of cancer deaths, The Courier-Journal's Laura Ungar has determined. (C-J graphic shows rates for the nation, Kentucky and Indiana, the...
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