Abstract

GAYET, Cecilia  and  GUTIERREZ, Juan Pablo. Sexual debut in Mexico: a comparison of household national surveys. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2014, vol.56, n.6, pp.638-647. ISSN 0036-3634.

Objective. To estimate calendar of sexual debut in Mexico and its trends using national representative household surveys. Materials and methods. Analysis of five birth cohorts extracted from four national population based household surveys in Mexico (National Health Survey 2000, National Survey on Demographic Dynamics 2009, National Youth Survey 2010, and National Health & Nutrition Survey 2012), using as outcome the proportion of individuals that reported sexual debut before the age of 16 and before the age of 20. Results. Overall, the four analyzed surveys produce consistent results, although some differences were found. While a larger proportion among younger cohorts reported sexual debut before the age of 20, that was not the case for sexual debut before 16 years. Conclusions. While data seems to reflect a relative stable age of sexual debut in Mexico, there is a recent trend to prepone sexual initiation that highlights the need to strengthen comprehensive sexual education and the supply of sexual & reproductive health services that are accessible and friendly to adolescents thus responding to the growing demand from this age group.

Keywords : sexual behavior; cohort studies; Mexico.

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