NEWSSouthern States Report Highest Teenage Pregnancy Rate
Oct. 20 2010, Published 9:44 a.m. ET
Teen Mom stars and Tennessee citizens Maci Bookout and Ryan Edward fit right into new statistics that teenage pregnancy is most prevalent in the south.
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According to new statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teenage mothers account for as many as one in 17 babies born in the South, ABC News reports.
In a new state-by-state comparison from the CDC's National Center for Health Statics, trends in teenage birth rates since 2008 have an overall decline of 2.4 percent.
But there are late disparities from state to state and Southern states report the highest rates of teenage pregnancy.
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"Teenage birth rates are higher in the South, which we've seen in the past, though among non-Hispanic blacks, five of the 10 states with the highest rates are actually in the upper Midwest, with Wisconsin having the highest rate," T.J. Mathews, demographer and co-author of the report, said.
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The 10 states with the highest number of teen moms were Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Nevada.
Wonder how many of MTV's new 16 and Pregnant stars can also be included in this study?
FOR MORE ON TEEN MOM'S MACI AND RYAN, PICK UP THE NEW ISSUE OF OK! IN STORES THURSDAY!
