Teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases in California
• In the state, 37 out of every 100 girls between the ages of 15 and 19
become teen moms.
• In Merced County, that number is 51 of every 100.
• Two of every three babies born to teens in California are born to Latinas.
• One-third of California's sexually active adolescents
have been tested for STDs.
• California's birth rates to teens are between 4 and 12 times higher
than the rates for France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan.
• The 2005 gonorrhea infection rate for California teens between the ages of 15 and 19 was 376 per 100,000 for females and 154 per 100,000 for males -- the highest in a decade.
• In Merced County, 29 cases of gonorrhea were reported in females aged 15 to 19 in 2006. There were 13 cases reported in males in that same age range during 2006.
Source: California Department of Education,
California Department of Health Services and youth advocacy organization Children
NOW.