Oklahoma Teen Birth Rates Show Improvement

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Oklahoma’s teen birth rates improved in 2017, decreasing in all age range categories, according to the Births: Final data for 2017 reportfrom the National Center for Health Statistics. Overall, Oklahoma’s birth rate for teens, aged 15-19, decreased by 11 percent between 2016 and 2017, dropping from 33.4 to 29.7 births per 1,000 females of the same age range. The state saw a larger decline than the U.S. rate, which decreased 7 percent, from 20.3 to 18.8.

For younger teens, aged 15-17, the Oklahoma birth rate decreased 13 percent, from 14.3 to 12.5 per 1,000 females of the same age between 2016 and 2017, compared to a 10 percent decline in the U.S. rate, from 8.8 to 7.9.

For older teens, aged 18-19, the Oklahoma birth rate decreased 11 percent, from 63.2 to 56.1 per 1,000 females during that period. Oklahoma’s decrease was nearly double that of the U.S. rate, which declined 6 percent, from 37.5 to 35.1 per 1,000 females of the same age.

“Over the past decade, Oklahoma’s continued decline in teen birth rates and numbers has been led by the community-wide teen pregnancy prevention efforts in the two metro areas,” said Sharon Rodine, Healthy Teens OK!  “Strong leadership, extensive public-private partnerships, local foundation support and federal prevention grants in Oklahoma City and Tulsa have resulted in significant teen birth declines in those counties and fueled the statewide declines,” stated Rodine.

In terms of its ranking among all states, Oklahoma ranked 48^th for all teens aged 15-19 in 2017, and ranked 46^th for both younger teens (15-17) and older teens (18-19). Though rankings for all age ranges improved from 2016, Oklahoma still remained among the states with the highest teen birth rates in the country.

For free, downloadable copies of the State Teen Birth Rate Ranking factsheets, go to: https://healthyteensok.org/fast-facts/