Washington: Births to younger teens aged between 15 and 17 have declined over the past 20 years in the US, but still account for about a quarter of teen births, or nearly 1,700 births a week, a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed.
Younger moms are "of particular concern" as they are not yet legally recognised as adults. They are at greatest risk for poor medical, social, and economic outcomes, Xinhua quoted the report published in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report as stating Tuesday.
"Although we have made significant progress reducing teen pregnancy, far too many teens are still having babies," CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement.
The report is based on birth data from the 1991 - 2012 National Vital Statistics System and adolescent health behaviour data from the 20062010 National Survey of Family Growth.
In 2012, there were 86,423 births to teens aged 15 to 17 years, accounting for 28 percent of all births to teens aged 15 to 19 years, the CDC report said.
The rate of births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 17 years declined 67 percent, from 51.9 in 1991 to 17 in 2012, it said. Of them, hispanic, non-Hispanic black and American Indian/Alaska Native teens have the higher birth rates.
