Surveys Reveal Americans' Sex and Drug Habits

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey results are in! Check out the amazing findings about Americans and their sex and drug habits!

This computer-based survey was given to 6,237 adults aged 20 to 59 by the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey was not given to institutionalized individuals. The computer survey's purpose was to obtain more honest and true answers than those given in face-to-face interviews where subjects may not feel comfortable admitting their behaviors.

"This is the first time we've used this technique," said Dr. Kathryn Porter (a medical officer for the survey) in an interview with the Associated Press. "The participants have a headset on - they hear questions - they touch the screen with responses. There's no one else in the room and they can take as long as they want."

You are probably wondering why such a survey was given. The answer: the survey results will help in educational and political situations. They may be used as ammunition to various parties in the ongoing national debate over sex education, cohabitation and access to birth control. Many of the conservative groups aligned with the Bush administration on social issues promote the goal of sexual abstinence until marriage.

Some of the results of this sex survey show that: Eleven percent of never-married adults had remained chaste, and about 96 percent of U.S. adults have had sex. Sixteen percent of adults first had sex before age 15, while 15 percent abstained from sex until at least age 21. The proportion of adults who first had sex before age 15 was highest for non-Hispanic blacks (28 percent) compared to 14 percent for both Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Six percent of blacks abstained from sex until age 21 or older, fewer than Mexican-Americans (17 percent) or non-Hispanic whites (15 percent). Black men and women were more likely to report having 15 or more partners in a lifetime (46 percent and 13 percent, respectively) than other racial or ethnic groups. Seventeen percent of men and 10 percent of women reported having two or more sexual partners in the past year. Twenty-five percent of women and 17 percent of men reported having no more than one partner of the other sex in their lifetime. Twenty-six percent of men and 17 percent of women have tried cocaine or other street drugs (not including marijuana) at some time in their life. Seven percent of men and 4 percent of women had done so within the past 12 months. Non-Hispanic whites had a higher percentage of ever using cocaine or street drugs (23.5 percent) than blacks (18 percent) or Mexican-Americans (16 percent). Adults who were married or had more than a high school education were less likely to use street drugs than others. (National Health and Nutrition Exam Results can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad384.pdf.)