Teen Births in DuPage County, Illinois

Conclusions
 
Teenage births remain an important public health and social issue in DuPage County. Teen births will remain a concern for DuPage communities because our trends do not indicate a significant favorable change over the last ten years as compared to the dramatic decline in teen birth rates in the U.S. and Illinois.

Studies show that teen mothers and their babies face greater health risks because they are less likely to receive timely prenatal care and more likely to have no care at all. As a result, babies born to teenagers are at higher risk for low birth weight.

If a public health goal is to reduce teen birth rates in DuPage County below the current level, without increasing the number of abortions, teen pregnancy rates must be reduced. However, this becomes extremely difficult if a baseline for teen pregnancy in DuPage County is not computed. Additionally, it may be socially unacceptable to set a teen birth rate target in for an increasingly diverse county.

Presumably, teen pregnancy rates can be reduced through contraception. We know that total abstinence is the only foolproof method of contraception. There are many direct and indirect contributing factors effecting teen pregnancy rates, and the resulting teen birth rates. Developing specific strategies to address these factors is dependent on public policy, community education, and resource allocation and availability.

The Healthy People 2010 objectives in Section 9 can be used as a framework program development and local level objective setting. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey can be used to monitor changes in behavior that result from program efforts. Teen birth rates are an important measure of teen behavior and the results of the choices teens make regarding their reproductive health.

It appears that teens aged 17 to 18 may be most at risk for getting pregnant. Most teen births are to 18 and 19 year olds. Almost half of these teenagers are engaging in sexual intercourse, according to results from the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

A cornerstone of public health is health promotion and disease prevention. Efforts to impact those factors which influence teen pregnancy rates and teen birth rates should focus on the physical and mental health of the target population.

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¹ Darroch JE, Singh S, and Frost JF, Differences in Teenage Pregnancy Rates Among Five Developed Countries: The Roles of Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use, Family Planning Perspectives, 2001, 33(6):244-250 & 281

² Ventura, SJ, Mathews, TJ, and Curtin, SC. Declines in Teenage Birth Rates, 1991-98: Update of National and State Trends. National Vital Statistics Report 47(26), 1999.

³ Ventura, SJ, Mathews, TJ, and Hamilton, BE. Births to Teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000. National Vital Statistics Report 49(10) 2001.

⁴ Ventura, SJ, Mathews, TJ, and Hamilton, BE. Teenage Births in the United States: State Trends, 1991-2000, an Update. National Vital Statistics Report 50(19) 2002.

⁵ Ventura, SJ, Mathews, TJ, and Hamilton, BE. Births to Teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000. National Vital Statistics Report 49(10) 2001.

⁶ Ventura, SJ, Mathews, TJ, and Hamilton, BE. Births to Teenagers in the United States, 1940-2000. National Vital Statistics Report 49(10) 2001.

⁷ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People HP2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000. 2(9).

⁸ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People HP2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000. 2(9).

⁹ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People HP2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000. 2(9)

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