Background: Effective sexual health promotion
programs need to be based on evidence; this study
describes a set of sexual behavioral patterns, education
and other subjects related to sexual life among 7th, 8th and
9th grade students in the State of Lara, Venezuela.
Methods: During 2003 to 2004 school period, 2070
students filled out the Global School Health Survey
(GSHS) –a school based cross-sectional selfadministered
survey that explores, among other areas,
sexual behavior.
Results: Students who responded that ever had
intercourse, males 27% and females 3.8%; by grade,
males 18.2% (7th) and 37.6 % (9th), and females 1.9%
(7th) and 6.2% (9th). The group who had intercourse,
54.9% males and 25.3% females had it by age 12; 59%
males and 78.6% females were sexually active in the
past 12 months; 59.2% males and 43.2% females used
condom in the last intercourse; and 48.3% males and
21.5% females has 2 or more sexual partners in their
life. A disparity is present in school-based information,
>63% for AIDS and <32% for sexual abuse.
Conclusions: This study shows that a substantial
number of students had sexual intercourse initiation at
early age (<12), history of multiple sexual partners and
low prevalence of condom use. An unbalanced coverage
of information on AIDS and sexual abuse is highly
prevalent in the school. However, the implementation
and evaluation of comprehensive programs on healthy
sexual life must take into account that still a majority
of students report abstinence from sexual intercourse.