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James S. Marks, MD; Willard Cates, MD, MPH

JAMA. 1986;255(1):85-86.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Sexual messages pervade our lives—at home, in schools, in media, in shopping centers, on airplanes, and even in physicians' offices. Rightly so, since being sexual is part of being human. Using public health values, sex can be a conduit for either good (enjoyment, planned pregnancy) or unfortunate (unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases [STD]) outcomes. To avoid the adverse consequences, individuals need both factual information and decision-making skills to make informed choices to reduce their risks of these unfortunate outcomes.

Teenagers are especially vulnerable, not only to sexual messages but also to sexual misfortunes.^1,2 Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing, as well as STDs in adolescents, continue to be major public health problems in the United States. In 1981, an estimated 1.3 million adolescents became pregnant, and of these over 500,000 had live births.^3,4 Over 80% of these pregnancies were unintended. Between 1971 and 1982, the proportion of metropolitan-area, never-married 15- to . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Center for Health Promotion and Education; Center for Prevention Services Centers for Disease Control Atlanta

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610.

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