Time to release your inner geeks, my friends, because we have data! And you all know how much I do love data –this week in the form of the CDC’s 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. The latest MMWR has the summary (PDF), which looks at 6 different categories of health-risk behavior in youth grades 9-12, including behaviors that lead to unintentional injuries and violence, as well as sexual behavior.
From the abstract:
“Results from the 2011 national YRBS indicated that many high school students are engaged in priority health-risk behaviors associated with the leading causes of death among persons aged 10–24 years in the United States. During the 30 days before the survey, 32.8% of high school students nationwide had texted or e-mailed while driving, 38.7% had drunk alcohol,
and 23.1% had used marijuana. During the 12 months before the survey, 32.8% of students had been in a physical fight, 20.1% had ever been bullied on school property, and 7.8% had attempted suicide. Many high school students nationwide are engaged in sexual risk behaviors associated with unintended pregnancies and STDs, including HIV infection. Nearly half (47.4%) of students had ever had sexual intercourse, 33.7% had had sexual intercourse during the 3 months before the survey (i.e., currently sexually active), and 15.3% had had sexual intercourse with four or more people during their life. Among currently sexually active students, 60.2% had used a condom during their last sexual intercourse.”