Abstinence only programmes do not change sexual behaviour, Texas study
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
Sex education programmes that teach only abstinence have little impact on adolescents?behaviour, a study in Texas, George Bush抯 home state, has concluded.
The number of adolescents who had had sexual intercourse did not change or increased after they had received abstinence only sex education, according to the report 慉bstinence Education Evaluation Phase 5 Technical Report?font face="Arial" size="2"> from the Texas health department.
The evaluation was prompted after Henry Waxman, a Democratic senator, and 18 other congressional representatives complained that 11 of the 13 commonly used programmes included false and misleading statements.
Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, a surgeon, said on national television that the government should review the sex education programmes, but he did not discuss their medical accuracy.
Abstinence only sex education has been federally funded in the United States since 1999. And Congress has approved $167m (?9m; �130m) for abstinence only programmes for 2005. More than 100 programmes are federally funded, and several million children have received instruction.
Buzz Pruitt, professor of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University and an author of the study, told the BMJ that some abstinence only programmes "don抰 include much sex education. The curriculum is vastly different."
Conversely, sex education programmes were comprehensive, involved open discussion, and included information about contraception, he said. "Abstinence only programmes don抰 refer to contraception except for failure rates," Dr Pruitt added.
The study comprised 451 middle school students and 277 high school students, aged between 11 and 17, who were enrolled in abstinence programmes at 29 schools. They were surveyed about their sexual behaviour before and after being given abstinence only instruction.
A quarter (23%) of ninth grade girls (aged about 14) reported having sex before they received abstinence education, which is below the national average. After instruction, the number having sex rose to 28%, closer to the rate for their peers in Texas.
The number of ninth grade boys reporting sexual activity was unchanged during the period before and after abstinence education, but it increased from 24% to 39% the next year.
The study team could not find a comparison group, Dr Pruitt told the BMJ: "We went to a school that didn抰 have an abstinence only programme, and we found the students had received the same messages from churches, and homes."
Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services and an author of the study, said that the study was only a starting point. Both he and Dr Pruitt said that they planned follow up studies in two to three years.(New York Janice Hopkins Tanne)
The number of adolescents who had had sexual intercourse did not change or increased after they had received abstinence only sex education, according to the report 慉bstinence Education Evaluation Phase 5 Technical Report?font face="Arial" size="2"> from the Texas health department.
The evaluation was prompted after Henry Waxman, a Democratic senator, and 18 other congressional representatives complained that 11 of the 13 commonly used programmes included false and misleading statements.
Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, a surgeon, said on national television that the government should review the sex education programmes, but he did not discuss their medical accuracy.
Abstinence only sex education has been federally funded in the United States since 1999. And Congress has approved $167m (?9m; �130m) for abstinence only programmes for 2005. More than 100 programmes are federally funded, and several million children have received instruction.
Buzz Pruitt, professor of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University and an author of the study, told the BMJ that some abstinence only programmes "don抰 include much sex education. The curriculum is vastly different."
Conversely, sex education programmes were comprehensive, involved open discussion, and included information about contraception, he said. "Abstinence only programmes don抰 refer to contraception except for failure rates," Dr Pruitt added.
The study comprised 451 middle school students and 277 high school students, aged between 11 and 17, who were enrolled in abstinence programmes at 29 schools. They were surveyed about their sexual behaviour before and after being given abstinence only instruction.
A quarter (23%) of ninth grade girls (aged about 14) reported having sex before they received abstinence education, which is below the national average. After instruction, the number having sex rose to 28%, closer to the rate for their peers in Texas.
The number of ninth grade boys reporting sexual activity was unchanged during the period before and after abstinence education, but it increased from 24% to 39% the next year.
The study team could not find a comparison group, Dr Pruitt told the BMJ: "We went to a school that didn抰 have an abstinence only programme, and we found the students had received the same messages from churches, and homes."
Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services and an author of the study, said that the study was only a starting point. Both he and Dr Pruitt said that they planned follow up studies in two to three years.(New York Janice Hopkins Tanne)