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<div id="contentBody" style="margin: 20px"> <div id="featuredlinksbox"> <img alt="Printer Friendly Header" src="/web/20091008195516im_/http://www.prb.org/images/header/printfriendly_header.gif"/> <br/><br/> <div id="ctl06_pnlTitle"> <div id="titles"><span class="titletext">Take a Number</span></div> </div> <div id="ctl06_contentBody"> <h1>Population, Health, and Environment News<br/>You Might Have Missed</h1> <h2>1 Billion Children Affected by War and Armed Conflict</h2> <p>(July 2009) More than 1 billion children, approximately one-sixth of the world's population, live in countries or territories affected by armed conflict; and more than 300 million of these children are under age 5, according to a new report from UNICEF. In fact, 18 million children are refugees or have been internally displaced. Children are not only directly affected during wars and armed conflict, but suffer from effects that can last for years or entire lifetimes. The proliferation of small arms, armed groups, and terrorism and counterterrorism measures all impact the long-term development and well-being of children. </p> <p>UNICEF's <i>Machel Study 10-Year Strategic Review: Children and Conflict in a Changing World </i>report is a follow-up to Graca Machel's groundbreaking 1996 study, <i>The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children</i>. In 1996, Machel, an educator and children's advocate from Mozambique, argued that the effects of armed conflict on children had been neglected and overlooked. Her work led to the establishment of the UN's Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The <i>10-Year Strategic Review</i> is an advocacy tool written as a result of broad consultation with governments, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and other civil society representatives, including young people. </p> <p>The new report argues that reliable data on children killed in wars is notoriously difficult to gather, due to the lack of reliable records and the upheaval of armed conflict.  <em>—Eric Zuehlke, Editor</em> </p> <p><strong>Reference:</strong> UNICEF, <i>Machel Study 10-Year Strategic Review: Children and Conflict in a Changing World </i>(New York: UNICEF, 2009), accessed online at <a title="http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_49985.html" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091008195516/http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_49985.html">www.unicef.org/publications/index_49985.html</a>, on July 2, 2009.</p> <hr align="left" width="570" color="#cf7127" noshade="" size="1"/> <h2>U.S. Girls as Likely as Boys to Use Alcohol, Marijuana, or Tobacco </h2> <p>(July 2009) A new survey has found that roughly 40 percent of American males and females ages 12 to 17 reported they had tried cigarettes; similar percentages reported consuming at least one alcoholic drink. Marijuana use was much lower, but girls were again nearly as likely to report usage: 23 percent of males and 20 percent of females in this age group reported using marijuana at least once in their lifetimes. </p> <p>The data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) conducted between 1999 and 2004, and also include statistics on teens' use of cocaine, binge drinking, and related risk behaviors. While the girls and boys reported similar usage, there was greater difference among ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic black adolescents were less likely (30 percent) to have had at least one alcoholic drink than Mexican Americans (42 percent) or non-Hispanic whites (41 percent). Blacks were also less likely than the other two groups to have tried cigarettes (34 percent versus 42 percent). However, black adolescents were just as likely to have tried marijuana as Mexican American youth: About 38 percent of each group reported having tried it.  <em>—Will Thompson, Intern </em></p> <p><strong>Reference: </strong>Cheryl D. Fryar et al., "Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Illicit Drug Use Reported by Adolescents Aged 12-17 Years: United States 1999-2004,"<i> National Health Statistics Report</i>, Number 15 (May 20, 2009), accessed online at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091008195516/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr015.pdf">www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr015.pdf</a>, on July 10, 2009.</p> <hr align="left" width="570" color="#cf7127" noshade="" size="1"/> <h2>40 Percent of U.S. Births Are to Unmarried Women</h2> <p>(July 2009) Statistics for 2007 released by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics show an increase in nonmarital childbearing since 2002. Approximately four of every 10 births in 2007 were to unmarried women: about 1.7 million babies. This is up sharply from 34 percent (or 1.4 million babies) born to unmarried mothers in 2002, and well above the levels for 1980 and before. Many countries have even higher percentages of nonmarital births<span style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">—</span>including Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom<span style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">—</span>but the U.S. percentage is above that for Spain, Canada, and several other developed countries.</p> <p>About 40 percent of nonmarital births—a greater share than ever before—were born to couples in cohabiting relationships rather than to a single mother. About 60 percent of nonmarital births were to women ages 20 to 29, and just 23 percent were to teens. Nonmarital birth rates (the number of births per 1,000 unmarried women) are higher among Hispanics (106 births per 1,000) and blacks (72 per 1,000) than non-Hispanic whites (32 per 1,000) or Asian or Pacific Islanders (26 per 1,000). </p> <p>Births to unmarried women remain a concern for public policymakers because these babies often have low birth weight, have a higher risk of dying in infancy, and are more likely to be born into families with limited social and financial resources. <em>—Emma Yudelman, Intern</em> </p> <p><strong>References:</strong> Stephanie J. Ventura, "Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States," <i>NCHS Data Brief, </i>no. 18<i> </i>(2009), accessed online at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091008195516/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db18.pdf">www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db18.pdf</a>, on July 10, 2009; and Rogelio Saenz and Eugenia Conde, "<span style="FONT-STYLE: normal">Rising U.S. Teen Fertility" (2009), available online at <a href="/web/20091008195516/http://www.prb.org/Articles/2009/teenagefertilityrate.aspx">www.prb.org/Articles/2009/teenagefertilityrate.aspx</a>. <p></p></span></p> <p></p></div> <div id="ctl06_debug"></div> <br/> <hr class="hrulenoarrow" align="left" color="#cf7127" noshade="noshade" size="1" width="570"/> <b>Copyright 2009, Population Reference Bureau.</b> All rights reserved. </div> </div> </form> <script src="/web/20091008195516js_/http://www.prb.org/__utm.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </body> </html>