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OGDEN, Utah (AP) -- The federal government is providing $3 million to teach abstinence-only sex education in Weber County where some pockets have teen-pregnancy rates that are more than double the national figure.
"Evidently our statistics must be strong enough to convince the federal government that we've got a serious need here," said Gary House, director of the Weber-Morgan Health Department.
He said the program mostly will be aimed at kids in grades 6-12 in central Ogden, which has the lowest incomes, highest poverty, and highest levels of low birth-weight babies in Weber County.
Surveys found that 9.2 percent of every 1,000 women who gave birth in central Ogden between 2002 and 2004 were between 15 and 19, the Standard-Examiner reported.
By comparison, Utah had a birth rate of 3.5 percent in that category, and the national rate was 4.1 percent.
The five-year federal grant can't be used for family-planning programs. Birth control can be mentioned but can't be taught, House said.
"We're going after abstinence because that's where the money is. ... We will continue to offer family planning at the health department," he said. "We see this as just another strategy."
House acknowledged that abstinence-only education is controversial.
"Abstinence is best for the health and the future of the adolescents," he said. "We want adolescents to understand the negative physical and emotional consequences of premarital sex. We want them to understand the benefits of waiting, and we look at this from a health perspective only."
The strategy includes trying to motivate parents to talk to their children about the subject and also reaching out to community groups that wish to participate.
There also will be "fairly significant media campaigns designed to increase awareness of the problem," House said.
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Information from Standard-Examiner: www.standard.net
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
