
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 24, 1995                   TAG: 9502240088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                 LENGTH: Short

RATE STABILIZES AMONG SEXUALLY ACTIVE TEENS

The number of sexually active teens is leveling off and more of those who do have sex are using condoms, the government said Thursday.

After steadily increasing since the 1950s, the number of teens who had sex has steadied in the 1990s, at about 53 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More teens said they used condoms the last time they had sex. In 1991, the first year the Youth Risk Behavior Survey posed the question, 46 percent of teens said they used a condom. That was up to almost 53 percent two years later.

``We've got 47 percent of teens who don't use condoms. We're exceedingly concerned about that,'' said Lloyd Kolbe, of the Division of Adolescent and School Health.

The study was based on the CDC's nationwide survey of teens in grades 9-12 in public and private schools. The first federal questionnaire to focus on teens and behavior, the survey began in 1990.

by CNB