| By Bob Weaver
Teen birthrates have declined in every state in the USA from 2007 through 2009 except West Virginia.
West Virginia has experienced a 17 percent increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Leading the state, Calhoun, Clay, McDowell, Mingo and Tyler counties have an average of 93.3 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19.
The five counties with the lowest rates of teen birth are Brooke, Monongalia, Pleasants, Putnam and Tucker, with an average of 25 births per 1,000 females.
West Virginia's 15-to-19-year-old population's birthrate averaged 49.7 births per 1,000 in 2009, with the nation's average at 39.1 per thousand, the lowest in 70 years.
The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 2009 indicated that West Virginia has a higher rate of teen sexual activity than the national average.
The highest rate was in Mississippi, with 55 teen births per 1,000 girls and New Mexico with 52 teen births per thousand, states that disallow sex education other than total abstainence.
Dr. Brenda Dawley of WV Perinatal Partnership, chairwoman of the Central Advisory Council and chairwoman of the Committee on Unplanned Pregnancy, says West Virginia teens are not using condoms, which hasn't changed much since 1990.
Some of the state's church groups have opposed general sex education and the promotion or issuance of condoms, with sex education in public schools varying widely from county to county.
Officials say there are few clear resources identified for how teachers can teach the tricky subject with abstinence being important, still half of all WV students are having sex before they graduate, many now starting at middle school age.
Margaret Chapman Pomponio, executive director of WV FREE, a nonprofit organization which advocates for woman's health, says
although no particular reason can be pinpointed for West Virginia's problem, poverty is a factor.
Factors contributing to West Virginia's higher teen birthrate include: lack of parental involvement, transportation restrictions, limited access to family planning services, abortion care and inadequate insurance coverage, according to the 2011 Report on Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing in West Virginia.
Calhoun is among the USA's 100 poorest counties, with Kids Count saying about one-third of the county's children are living in poverty.
Calhoun was among ten WV counties in 2009 with a large number of cases of neglect and child abuse with 43.09 cases per thousand, with the state average at 18.9 per thousand.
Recent statistics on the abuse of prescription drug and alcohol abuse are not available, but former studies indicated the county had one of the biggest problems in the state.
Pomponio told Charleston Newspapers, "We think it should be a wake-up call for West Virginia to begin collaborative approaches to teen pregnancy and childbearing."
| 
