Inquirer Editorial: 16 & pregnant

The number of teens having babies in the United States has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 70 years.

But this country still leads most industrialized nations in the number of teens giving birth.

According to statistics for 2009 released last week by health officials, there were 39 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19.

That's the lowest teen birthrate for the United States since such records have been kept. But the rate is more in line with less developed countries such as Turkey and Bulgaria.

In Western Europe and elsewhere, the rate is significantly lower - 24 per 1,000 girls in Britain, 16 in Ireland, and 5 in Italy.

The figures are yet another reminder that American young people need better comprehensive sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, especially in Philadelphia, which has some of the highest STD rates in the country.

While there have been no comprehensive studies to explain the disparity, experts generally agree that birth-control education could make the difference. There also is no evidence that teens elsewhere are having less sex.

With so many teenagers deciding to have sex, they need to hear about being in a monogamous relationship with a disease-free partner. But they also need to know about condoms.

A contest under way in Philadelphia to design a city-brand condom wrapper seems like one good approach to the problem. Philadelphia distributes only about 1.5 million condoms a year, compared to the 41 million given out by New York.