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Teenagers are about as likely to engage in oral sex before intercourse as they are to have intercourse first, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC gathered information based on the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) in which 6,346 interviews were conducted from July 2007 to June 2010 with 3,242 with women and 3,104 with men aged 15-24 years.

The report concluded that about 66 percent of females and 65 percent of males aged 15-24 years in 2007-2010 had ever had oral sex. Among females aged 15-24 years, 26 percent had first oral sex before first vaginal intercourse; 27 percent had oral sex after intercourse; 7.4 percent had oral sex on the same occasion as first intercourse; and 5.1 percent had oral sex, but no vaginal intercourse. Among males aged 15-24 years, 24 percent had first oral sex before first intercourse; 24 percent had oral sex after first intercourse; 12 percent had oral sex on the same occasion.

The government agency also reported that since 1988, the percentage of female and male teenagers who ever had sexual intercourse declined from 51 percent in 1988 to 43 percent in 2006-2010 and condom usage at first vaginal intercourse for both male and female have significantly increased.

However, while there has been a decline in the percentage of teenagers who ever had vaginal intercourse and increases in condom use, the CDC reports that the rate of STIs has not decreased, particularly among teenagers 15-19 and young adults aged 20-24 years. In 2010, about one-half of all new STIs occurred among people aged 15-24.

In 2002, the same survey showed that 22 percent of females and 24 percent of males aged 15-19 years who had never had vaginal intercourse reported having had oral sex.

The risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, is lower for oral sex than for vaginal intercourse or anal sex. But, young people, particularly those who have oral sex before their first vaginal intercourse, may still be placing themselves at risk of STIs or HIV before they are ever at risk of pregnancy. Untreated or recurrent STIs can lead to serious reproductive and other health problems, including infertility.

Previous studies have shown that oral sex can transmit chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

The report also revealed that a higher percentage of boys ages 15 to 19 reported receiving oral sex than giving it; For girls the same age, about the same percentage gave as received oral sex; Non-Hispanic black males ages 15 to 24 were less likely than non-Hispanic white or Hispanic males to have given oral sex to an opposite-sex partner; Non-Hispanic black females ages 15 to 24 had the highest percentage of ever having had vaginal intercourse, followed by Hispanic females and non-Hispanic white females; Non-Hispanic white females reported ever having had oral sex more often than did non-Hispanic black females or Hispanic females.

The CDC report is published online by the National Center for Health Statistics.