Pregnancy rates higher for teens who watch lots of sex on TV

PREGNANCY rates are much higher among teenagers who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behaviour, compared with those with tamer viewing tastes.

The study is the first to link those viewing habits with teen pregnancy, said lead author Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist with Rand Corporation, which operates in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

Teenagers who watched the raciest shows were twice as likely to become pregnant over the next three years as those who watched few such programmes.