Pill Popping Pre-Teens Have Increased Five Fold in the Past Decade: Study on Teen Sexual Behavior

Sex seems to have become an alarmingly casual trend in UK for the underage, even among pre-teens, as records reveal a five-fold increase in the number of 11 and 12-year-olds on the Pill in the last decade. More than 1,000 girls have been on the Pill, prescribed by their doctors unbeknownst to parents, while 200 girls, aged between 11 and 13, were given long-term contraception suggesting they are having sex regularly.

The legal age of consent is 16, but family doctors can prescribe contraceptives to an underage girl if they believe she is mature enough to have sex.

They also have to keep this information confidential, unless they suspect she is being abused or forced into sexual activity.

The figures come from the General Practice Research Database, the world's largest source of anonymous medical records.

"These ­figures illustrate the fact that the UK is facilitating the sexualisation of young people at an ever younger age," The Daily Express quoted Trevor Stammers, a member of the British Medical Association expert panel on sexual health, as saying.

He added that early sex education in schools would prompt more youngsters to seek contraception.

On the other hand, inadequate sex education at a young age is seen as contributing to Britain's high rate of teenage pregnancy - among the highest in Europe.

Source-ANI