CDC study reveals virgin teens are healthier than those who are sexually active

A study conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) examining teenage health behaviors in relation to their sexual activity has revealed that teens who remain chaste are much healthier than those who are sexually active.

The researchers asked students in grades 9 to 12 from both public and private schools about their sexual behavior as well as other health-related issues such as seat-belt use, texting and eating habits, drug and alcohol use, as well as depression and suicidal thoughts or attempts, Life News reported.

Forty-eight percent of the students had sexual contact with the opposite sex only while 45.7 percent said they never had sexual contact. The study revealed that 1.7 percent had sexual contact with the same sex only, and 4.6 percent had contact with both sexes.

Glenn T. Stanton, director of global family formation studies at Focus on the Family, published a summary of the results in The Federalist.

According to Stanton's summary, opposite-sex-active (OSA) teens are 260 percent more likely to experience dating violence than teens who are inactive. Same-sex/bisexual-active (SS/BA) teens are 683 percent more likely than chaste teens.

Chaste teens are 3,300 percent less likely to smoke than OSA teens and 9,500 less likely than SS/BA teens. The study also found that virgin teens are 21 percent more likely to sleep eight hours a night than OSA teens and 34 percent more likely than SS/BA teens.

Virgin teens are also more likely to use a seatbelt and less likely to binge drink, smoke pot, and use illegal drugs.

Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president of the Ruth Institute, said in an interview with The Christian Post that the study is "remarkable because it asks questions and reports the answers, rather than avoiding questions or assuming answers."

Morse noted that the advantages of remaining chaste during teen years are not just physical.

"I've noticed that the chaste students we have worked with over the years at the Ruth Institute do not have the angst that one so often attributes to young adulthood," she said.

"I think it is because avoiding sexual activity avoids a lot of psycho-social drama that goes along with it," she added.

Morse also noted that nobody has ever died from abstaining from, sex but there are some people who feel as if they would.

"If you feel that way, it may mean that you are addicted. After all, that is a primary indicator of addiction: you think you'll die without the endorphin rush that comes from the activity or substance," she said.