(Reuters) - Long after completing an 18-month program designed
to teach them about contraception and healthy relationships,
U.S. teens at high risk for pregnancy were still using
contraceptives more often, among other safe sexual practices, a
U.S. study said. The teen pregnancy rate in the United States is
the highest in the developed world, researchers writing in JAMA
Pediatrics said. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, in 2011 31 out of every 1,000 U.S.
teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth to a
baby. But researchers in Minnesota developed and tested an
approach to teen pregnancies based on providing access to birth
control methods and information as well as building the girls'
sense of connectedness to family and society. "Our study shows
that when we invest in young people through ongoing one-on-one
relationships, through opportunities to lead and access to sex
and health services, we really support the next generation of
citizens," said Renee Sieving, the st