Glenn Stanton writes today at the Federalist:

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the first ever of its kind, examines a large and diverse array of high school students' health behaviors according to their self-reported sexual activity.

What makes this report particularly interesting, beyond its categorization by sexual activity, is it examines widely varied safety and health behaviors from bike helmet and seat belt use to substance abuse, diet, doctor's visits, exercise, and even tanning bed use. The report's two major conclusions are quite stark:

• The virginal students rate significantly and consistently better in nearly all health-related behaviors and measures than their sexually active peers.
• Teens who have sexual contact with the same or both sexes have remarkably lower percentages of healthy behaviors overall than their heterosexually active peers.

Consider, for example, the significant contrast regarding experiences of "Dating Violence." Opposite-Sex Active (OSA) "teens are 260 percent more likely to experience some form of physical violence in dating relationships than virginal peers," Stanton writes. By contrast, same-sex/bisexual active (SS/BA) "teens are 683 percent more likely than virginal peers" to experience this negative outcome.

In the category of "Felt Sad or Helpless," "OSA teens are 48 percent more likely to report feeling so sad or helpless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing some of their usual activities, compared to virginal peers," Stanton states. "SS/BA teens are 181 percent more likely than virginal peers."

Here's how Stanton concludes: "Our children should know there's very compelling scientific evidence on so many levels showing how saving the precious gift of their sexuality for the safe harbor of marriage is nothing about old-time moralism or unhealthy sexual repression.

"Just the opposite is true. Chastity is related to so many substantial measures of human health and well-being that it should be strongly appreciated by parents and health and education professionals as one of the most important health-boosting factors for our nation's young adults."

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