Do Teens Use Oral Sex To Delay Intercourse?

Two-Thirds Have Had Oral Sex

Teenagers may be walking bags of hormones and angst, but that doesn't mean they're all having sex with each other. According to a new study, the types of sexual relationships young people keep are much more varied than you might think.

Read: Women Who Had Sex As Teens More Likely To Divorce

In the comprehensive new study from the CDC, teenagers and young adults aged 15 to 24 were surveyed about their sex lives, including when (if at all) they first had oral sex and intercourse.

Conducted from 2007 to 2010 as part of the National Survey of Family Growth, the study featured 6,346 in-depth interviews. From those interviews, some surprising numbers came up:

- 45.8% of teenage girls and 9.9% of women aged 20 to 24 reported never having sex of any kind. For boys, 44.2% of teenagers and 13% between 20 and 24 said the same.

- 15.8% of teenage girls and 15.4% of teenage boys said they had an oral sex experience before sexual intercourse.

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- Though 47% of 15 to 19 year-old boys reported receiving oral sex, just 35% said they returned the favor. For teenage girls, the giving/receiving numbers were about even.

- Among all groups, two-thirds reported having oral sex. The same number reported having intercourse.

So what can we learn from these numbers? For one, oral sex is obviously a large component of teenage sex, as the majority of young adults have had some encounter with it.

But is that because oral sex is easier to start with? Or do teens just see it as less significant than intercourse? I guess we'll have to wait for the next survey to answer that one.

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