An interesting study by the University of Pittsburgh published in the November issue of Pediatrics found a link between teen girls' body weight (actual and perceived) and their likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors. These included having intercourse before turning 13, having sex with more than four partners, consuming alcohol in connection with sex, and having unprotected sex.  The study surveyed 7,200 high school girls, with half reporting that they had ever had sex.

Some key points:

• Caucasian girls who believed they were underweight were more likely to have had sex and to have had four or more sexual partners than girls who considered themselves at a normal weight.
• Caucasian girls who were actually overweight were less likely to use condoms.
• African-American girls who were underweight were less likely to use condoms than those of normal weight, and overweight African-American girls were more likely to report four or more sexual partners.
• Latina girls of all weights were more likely to engage in a wide variety of risky sexual behaviors, from lack of condom use and sex before age 13 to having more than four sexual partners during their teens and using alcohol.

As you may or may not know, the progress in teen pregnancy prevention in this country has been embarrassingly uneven. While about one-third of all teen girls will become pregnant before age 20, this figure jumps significantly for minority girls--51% of African-American girls and 53% of Latinas will have at least one pregnancy during their teen years. Rates for Native American teen births are also disproportionately high.

You read it right--some minority youth are more likely than not to become pregnant during their teen years. We thought this was important enough to hold a Congressional briefing on the topic a couple of weeks ago.

These stats made our friends' jaws drop over at the The Progressive Policy Institute--rightly so. And while they clearly have shown their hand as far as their preference for the Prez (not surprisingly, considering their affiliation with the Democratic Leadership Committee), this is an issue that all Americans have to care about, regardless of where your fall on the red-purple-blue spectrum.

My colleagues and I won't engage in political debates, but the policy question is quite valid: How will our elected leaders address the staggering disparities among minority youth, and what's the best way to make progress on teen pregnancy prevention in communities of color? Discuss.