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Nation's Teen Births Increase

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2009

Teen pregnancies increased 7 percent in Florida from 2005 to 2006, according to a federal report released Wednesday. The state had the 17th highest rate of teen births among the states.

Mississippi has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title.

More than a year ago, a preliminary report on the 2006 data revealed that the U.S. teen birth rate had risen for the first time in about 15 years. But the new numbers provide the first state-by-state information on the increase.

About 435,000 of the nation's 4.3 million births in 2006 were to mothers ages 15 through 19. That was about 21,000 more teen births than in 2005.

The new report is based on a review of all birth certificates in 2006. Significant increases in teen birth rates were noted in 26 states.

Numerically, the largest increases were in the states with the largest populations, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

About Florida, the report said:

•There were 45.2 births for every 1,000 women ages 15 through 19 in 2006, a 7 percent increase from 42.4 in 2005.

•Women ages 15 through 19 gave birth to 236,802 children in 2006.

•The state was among 22 in which the average age at first birth significantly decreased from 2005 to 2006. The mean age in Florida, 25, was the same as the national mean age.

Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006. The teen pregnancy rate in Texas and New Mexico was more than 50 percent higher. The three states have large proportions of black and Hispanic teenagers - groups that traditionally have higher birth rates, experts noted.

The lowest teen birth rates continue to be in New Eng-land, where three states have teen birth rates at just half the national average.

It's not clear why Mississippi surged into first place. The state's one-year increase of nearly 1,000 teen births could be a statistical blip, said Ron Cossman, a Mississippi State University researcher who focuses on children's health statistics.

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