New statistics released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that Mississippi had the nation’s highest teen birth rate in 2006, followed by New Mexico and Texas.

 

How is that possible? The report authors say all three states have large proportions of black and Hispanic teenagers – groups known to have higher birth rates. A more sexualized culture and greater acceptance of births to unmarried women might also be an explanation for these findings. And it should not be forgotten that abstinence-only sex education and a possible de-emphasis on birth control may play a part.

 

Least but not last glowing media portrayals of celebrity pregnancies don’t seem to help either, said Stephanie Birch, who directs maternal and child health programs for the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

 

“They make it out to be very glamorous,” she said citing a calculation by Alaska officials that teen births were up 6 percent in that state in 2006.

 

“Births: Final Data for 2006,” as the report was titled, found that the highest teen birth rates were in the South and Southwest. Mississippi was highest with 68.4 per 1,000, followed by New Mexico, with a rate of 64.1 and Texas with 63.1. The lowest rates were registered in the Northeast. For example, New Hampshire had the fewest teen births with 18.7 per 1,000, followed by Vermont with 20.8 per 1,000 and Massachusetts with 21.3 per 1,000.

 

Overall, there were 4,265,555 births in the United States in 2006, an increase of 3 percent over the previous year. Some 435,000 of them were from mothers aged 15 to 19, that is 21,000 more teen births than 2005. The birth rate was 14.2 live births per 1,000 persons in 2006, up from 2005.

 

Also, the teen birth rate increased in 26 of the 50 states in 2006. The only states reporting a decrease in teen birth rates between 2006 and 2006 were North Dakota, Rhode Island and New York, the report found.

 

The birth rate for unmarried women increased 7 percent between 2005 and 2006 hitting 50.6 per 1,000 unmarried women between 15 and 44 years old. Also, the average age of mothers having a baby for the first time decreased to 25 years of age in 2006 from 25.2 the prior year. It was the first recorded decline in age since the measure became available. Average age at first birth had increased 3.8 years between 1970 and 2003.

 

The report was based on data from the National Vital Statistics System, which covers the latest US birth statistics, including state-based and national information on teen, unmarried, and multiple births. The report also included health data on cesarean deliveries, smoking during pregnancy, low birth weight, and preterm births.