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Children reporting sex at 12

Posted on: Monday, 17 August 2009, 15:40 CDT

A study of 1,000 low-income families in three U.S. cities found one in four children and teens between the ages of 11-16 reported having sex, researchers said.

Brenda Lohman of Iowa State University said the study that involved children and teens in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio said the study found the first sexual intercourse experience occurred at the average age of 12.77.

So if 12 years was the average age here, that meant that some kids were starting at 10 or younger, Lohman said in a statement. A handful of kids reported having sex as early as age 8 or 9. We know from our follow-up interviews that one boy who reported having sexual intercourse for the first time at age 9 had fathered four children by the time he was 18.

The researchers first collected interview data in 1999 on youth at ages 10-14, again in 2001 and once again 2006.

The study, posted online in the Children and Youth Services Review and scheduled to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal, found boys reported their first sexual intercourse at an age averaging 12.48, and girls at age 13.16. Boys also had nearly 10 percent higher frequency of intercourse than girls.

Source: United Press International

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