html5 sexteen,TV and other factors lead to early teen sex

Too much television, low self-esteem, disappointing grades and poor family relationships can be a formula that adds up to early teenage sex, according to a new study.

"If you add up all the factors, you get a much more powerful predictor of who has sex and who doesn't," said Dr. Janet Hyde, of the University of Wisconsin, who headed the research team.

"One thing probably by itself is not going to do it, but by the time you get two or three risk factors, things start to go downhill," she added.

Hyde and her team studied 273 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15. About 15 percent of them had early sex.

"Kids who engage in early sexual activity are much less likely to use any kind of protection which increases their risk for teen pregnancy and acquiring sexually transmitted diseases," Hyde said.

One of the best predictors for early teen sex is television viewing, in part because t