Teens say ‘nah’ to sex, ‘yes’ to video games

Today’s teens are playing more video games and having less sex.

According to a survey conducted by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, only 41 percent of 9th through 12th grade students said they had ever had sex, down from 47 percent over the previous 10 years. When the survey began in 1991, 54.1 of teens said they had had sex.

Results also showed a decrease in students who had had sexual intercourse before they were 13 years old as well as those who had had sex with more than four people during their life.

Dr. Stephanie Zaza of the CDC, who oversees the survey, said researchers are intrigued by the drop and want to make sure the low numbers aren’t just an irregularity.

“We’re trying to look at reasons why this might be happening,” Zaza told the Associated Press.

But the number of students who spend three or more hours on an average school day playing video or computer games, or using a computer for other purposes outside of schoolwork has nearly doubled since that question was added to the survey in 2003, to 41 percent.

This year’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System anonymously questioned 16,000 students from 125 schools across the country.

The survey began in 1990 in an effort to monitor health behaviors — often established during childhood and early adolescence — that can lead to death, disability and social problems later in life. Data from more than 3.8 million high school students have been collected as a part of the project, which poses the questions every two years.

Rates of smoking have also drastically reduced since the survey began. In 1991, 70 percent of high schools said they had ever tried smoking. In 2015, that number was just 32 percent. Fewer students also reported that they currently smoked.

However, there has been a slight uptick in drug use among high schoolers surveyed. In 1991, 31.1 of students had ever used marijuana, while in 2015 38 percent reported they had. But that number was down from 2013, when 41 percent said they had used the drug. Cocaine and heroin use have remained unchanged.

In addition to asking about involvement with sex, drugs and alcohol, the survey inquires about a number of other dangerous behaviors: texting while driving, carrying a gun and wearing a bike helmet.

The questionnaire also included questions about health-related behaviors like eating breakfast, drinking milk, getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity multiple times a week, watching more than three hours of television a day, and whether a student was overweight or obese.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Teens say ‘nah’ to sex, ‘yes’ to video games."