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Health Status > Adolescents
ADOLESCENT CHILDBEARING
The birth rate among adolescents ages 15 to 19
decreased to 41.6 births per 1,000 females in 2003. This is 3 percent
below the rate in 2002 and represents a 33 percent decrease since
the most recent peak in 1991. The birth rate among the youngest
adolescents, those ages 10 to 14 years, declined to 0.6 per 1,000.
The number of births to this age group dropped to 6,661-the fewest
reported in 45 years. Teenage birth rates were highest among the
oldest adolescents, 18 to 19 years, at 70.7 per 1,000.
Teenage birth rates have historically differed
considerably by race and ethnicity. Among adolescents ages 15 to
19 years, Asian/Pacific Islanders had the lowest birth rate in 2003
(17.4 per 1,000), followed by non-Hispanic Whites (27.4 per 1,000).
Although non-Hispanic Black teens had one of the highest birth rates
for this age group (64.7 per 1,000), they have also experienced
the largest percentage drop since 1991 (45 percent). Hispanic females
had the highest birth rate among 15- to 19-year-olds (82.3 per 1,000)
and the lowest percentage drop since 1991 (21 percent). Among 10-
to 14-year-olds, non-Hispanic Black females had the highest birth
rate (1.6 per 1,000), followed by Hispanic females (1.3 per 1,000).
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Bar Chart: Birth Rates Among Adolescent Females,
by Age and Maternal Race/Ethnicity: 2003
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Line Chart: Birth Rates Among Females Ages 15-19,
by Maternal Race/Ethnicity: 1990-2003
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