| 112th Year, 5th Issue | Thursday, September 14, 2000 | Sparta, North Carolina |
In Alleghany County, teen pregnancy rates have dropped significantly from last year. The rate for girls 15 to 19 dropped from 79.8 to 66.9 out of every 1,000.
The average for girls age 10 through 14 dropped from 3.7 in 1998 to zero in 1999.
Since 1990, the teen pregnancy rate in Alleghany County has fluctuated between 79.8 at the highest for the 15 to 19 age group, to a low of 62. With the younger age group, the highest rate was 3.7 in 1998, the only year that any rate higher than zero was recorded since and including 1990. Coincidentally, 1998 was also the year with the highest rate for the older girls.
Overall, the county has posted a rate drop of 4.5 per 1,000 since 1990 with girls aged 15 to 19.
Teen pregnancy rates around the state have dropped from an average of 85.5 girls from the ages of 15 through 19 getting pregnant out of every 1,000 in 1998, to only 79.5 in 1999, according to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition. With girls ages 10 to 14, the average went down from 2.4 to 2.3.
Rates for the 15-19 year old age group fell or held steady in all but 20 of the state's 100 counties.
Of those where rates increased, the largest differences were seen in Graham, Dare and Yancey counties. The largest decreases were seen in Greene, Perquimans, Bladen and Currituck counties.
Figures for the 10 to 14 year old girls weren't as impressive with 33 counties reporting increases.
The biggest increase came from Bertie County with a rise of 3.8 girls per 1,000 over 1998. The most impressive drop, however, was in Dare County. There, the average went from 10 out of 1,000 to zero out of every 1,000 girls in that age group getting pregnant.
Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News!
Email: allnews@ls.net