National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month a.k.a. National Adolescent Health Month

The month of May is a time to highlight efforts to prevent and reduce teen pregnancy among the nation’s youth.

With teen pregnancy rates reaching historic lows in the United States, ACF programs are making a positive impact in the lives of the youth we serve. As we strive to continue this downward trend of teen pregnancy, it is critical our work is inclusive. This year we are focusing on effectively engaging adolescent males in Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) programming.

The theme of this year’s National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM) is “Elevating Voices: Effectively Engaging Adolescent Males.” Throughout May, the Family and Youth Services Bureau’s (FYSB) APP Program will focus on a number of issues to increase awareness about efforts to prevent or reduce teen pregnancy, non-marital sexual activity, and the spread of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents. 

Show your support for NTPPM and National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM) by wearing yellow — dress in yellow, wear a yellow hat, or put a yellow ribbon in your hair — and posting pictures to social media with one of our hashtags #NTPPM #TeenPregnancyPrevention #IWearYellow4NTPPM #Yellow4NTPPM or #NAHM.

1. Empowering youth with sexual and reproductive health information and services

   In order to make well-informed, healthy decisions, it’s important young people be educated about sexual and reproductive health. During adolescence, youth experience physical growth, experiment with new activities, begin thinking more critically, and develop more diverse and complex relationships. Although studies show teen birth rates have decreased more than 40% in the past decade, they still disproportionately affect youth in foster care, homeless youth, parenting teens, and LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, racial and ethnic disparities persist. According to the CDC, in 2019, non-Hispanic white teens had a birth rate of 11.4, while African Americans and Hispanics had a rate that was twice as high (25.8 and 25.3 respectively) and the birth rate among American Indian/Alaska Native teens (29.2) was highest among all ethnicities. Finally, even though 38.4% of all high school students reported they had never had sexual intercourse, adolescents ages 15-24 account for nearly half of the 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections each year.

2. Supporting mental health and well-being 

   May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to recognize mental health is an essential part of overall health. Currently, adolescents and young adults are facing extraordinary mental health challenges. Living in diverse environments, young people face social and economic inequality, discrimination, violence, and other factors that can negatively affect mental health. Social media can amplify these already difficult situations. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced youth to face unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years. Supporting youth mental health can help adolescents address these societal concerns, strengthen their resilience, and mitigate negative impacts on mental health

3. Encouraging physical health and healthy decision-making 

   It is imperative for youth to form positive habits during adolescence and exhibit behaviors that will improve their long-term health and well-being. As they age, so too do increased responsibilities to make more choices about their health. It is important for them to make healthy food choices, be physically active, limit social media use, and fully participate in their own health care, including making doctor appointments and staying current on vaccinations. Parents, caregivers, and youth-serving adults can help by encouraging and supporting physical health and healthy decision-making during these critical, developmental years and providing teens with education, skills training, and coaching on how to navigate the health care system and solve problems. Supporting healthy behaviors today will strengthen health for adolescents into adulthood.

4. Sustain equitable, accessible, and youth-friendly services

   Access to equitable, high-quality health care services is essential for youth to grow and thrive in society as adults. Unfortunately, as they age, many young people stop health care visits after pediatric care due to lack of support for transitioning to the adult health care system. This often leads to gaps in care for many young people, especially those with chronic conditions and disabilities. Homelessness, foster care, the juvenile justice system, and living in mixed immigration status households can also present challenges to obtaining health care. 

   Parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers should help adolescents learn how to gain access to, and use, the health care system to obtain necessary services. Health care providers can contribute to this by being welcoming, responsive, and youth-friendly; providing accessible locations and hours; creating warm, respectful, and safe environments; ensuring opportunities for confidential, one-on-one conversations; and encouraging youth to involve parents or caregivers while also respecting their privacy. 

   To prevent pregnancy, non-marital sexual activity, and the spread of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, ACF’s Family & Youth Services Bureau's (FYSB) Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) Program supports state, tribal, and community efforts to implement Personal Responsibility Education Programs and Sexual Risk Avoidance Education.

   The APP Program administers more than 300 grants throughout the nation and several U.S. territories to help increase the capacity of youth-serving organizations. In addition to providing culturally relevant and age-appropriate prevention education, grantees provide adulthood preparation education on topics such as financial literacy, healthy relationships, and healthy life skills to help youth reach their goals for future success. APP’s efforts, combined with those of other federal, state, tribal and local organizations, are contributing to decreases in teen birth rates as evidenced by significantly declining birthrates for 15-19-year-olds.

   Accordingly, HHS will broaden its efforts to focus on helping young people live overall healthy lives with the encouragement and support of their loved ones. Beginning this year, HHS’s annual May observance will be called National Adolescent Health Month (NAHM) and will emphasize the importance of building on young peoples’ strengths and potential, encouraging and supporting meaningful youth engagement in adolescent health activities, and highlighting key topics in adolescent health. 

   Maintaining the same objectives as NTPPM, NAHM expands the focus to raise awareness of the health and well-being of the whole person, including teen pregnancy, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, physical health, and the amount and type of care that youth across America receive. Investing in adolescent health and well-being now will generate a “triple benefit” for society by creating healthier youth today; ensuring healthier adults; and setting the foundation for healthier future generations when they become parents, guardians, and caretakers. 

   You can find more information on NTPPM in the NTPPM Digital Toolkit. For additional information about the transformation, please visit the NAHM webpage and view statements by HHS officials.  

   The month of May is a time to highlight efforts to prevent and reduce teen pregnancy among the nation’s youth. With teen pregnancy rates reaching historic lows in the United States, ACF programs are making a positive impact in the lives of the youth we serve.