More girls having under-age sex

More than a quarter of women now aged between 16 and 24 first had sex when they were under 16 years old, according to a new survey.

The new figures, from the Health Survey for England, suggest that sexual behaviour has changed over the generations.

The findings also suggest that the proportion of women who have had sex below the age of 16 has increased over time.

Some 27 per cent of women aged between 16 and 24 said they had sex when they were below 16 compared with 22 per cent of men in the same age group.

This compares with just 18 per cent of men and 10 per cent of women aged between 45 and 54 who said they had sex under the age of 16.

However, some 26 per cent of young women and 32 per cent of young men reported they had never had sex.

In contrast, one in ten 16-24-year-olds - both men and women - said they had had ten or more sexual partners.

The report is published each year by the NHS Information Centre and looks at a range of health-related issues affecting men and women aged between 16 and 69.

Most people said they became sexually active at 17 years of age, with men reporting an average of 9.3 female sexual partners in their lifetime, while women said they had an average of 4.3 male sexual partners.

Similar proportions (2%) of men and women surveyed reported having had more than one sexually transmitted infection.

NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: "The Health Survey for England is an annual survey monitoring the health of the population and covers a wide range of health issues.

"This year's report covers many aspects of health and amongst its many interesting findings; it paints a picture of sexual behaviour which is changing over the generations with younger women tending to begin having sex younger.

"These findings will be of interest to the NHS in tackling matters such as sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptive services."

This article was published on Fri 16 December 2011