Report: Connecticut Town's Teen Birth Rate High

A two-year study released Nov. 8 by East Hartford, Conn., officials shows that the rate of pregnancy and STDs among the town's teenagers is substantially higher than in most other Connecticut municipalities.

The report "will, perhaps, shock some residents," wrote Baker Salsbury, the town's director of health and social services, in his introduction to the 67-page document. But Salsbury said the community planning document offers strategies to start addressing the problem, such as developing parent enrichment programs, expanding afterschool programs and career skills opportunities, and increasing peer mentoring.

Only six municipalities in the state have higher teen birth rates, according to the report, and growing numbers of teenagers in the town have chlamydia and other STDs.

The report cites statistics showing that the teen birth rate -- the number of births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 -- was 49.6 throughout the country in 1999. That compares to a 1998 statistic of 35.8 births per 1,000 in the state, and 60.9 births per 1,000 in East Hartford. The report says that 71 children were born to East Hartford girls under age 20 during 1999. That compares to 89 such births in 1998. The report also says that from 1999 to 2001, 206 cases of chlamydia were reported among teenage girls in East Hartford.

The report notes that the data can be seen as "a sad convergence of multiple forces," including a doubling of the poverty level in town since the 1990 census, the "extraordinary rate of transience" and changes in family structure and dynamics. It reviews risk factors, such as poor school achievement or a lack of supervision, that are considered antecedents to teen pregnancy, and it summarizes trends showing higher rates of sexual activity and unprotected sex among black and Hispanic teens.

The report outlines a plan to reduce teen pregnancies by 40 percent and lower the rate of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections by 60 percent over the next five years.

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