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ATLANTA, Jul 29, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A new nationwide study concludes black teens in rural areas engage in more risky sexual behavior than their urban counterparts.
Robin Millhausen of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention Center said that based on responses to a nationwide survey, rural black high school students are more likely to have sex and less likely to use condoms.
Compared with their city counterparts, rural black girls and boys are 46 percent and 65 percent more likely, respectively, to report ever having sex.
Rural black girls are 34 percent more likely to say they did not use a condom the last time they had sex, while boys are 96 percent more likely to have unprotected sex, the study found.
The study was published in the American Journal of Health Behavior.
The researchers acknowledge their study may not be entirely representatives since it included only rural teens still in high school and did not consider differences in income or social status.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
