Rate of Vietnamese children having sex before 14 more than doubles in 2013-2019: survey

The prevalence of Vietnamese children having sexual intercourse before 14 years old surged nearly 2.4 times in 2019 compared to that in 2013, according to the latest survey results released this week. 

This finding is part of the ‘Report of the 2019 Global School-based Student Health Survey in Vietnam’ (GSHS), which was announced at a webinar held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

The GSHS 2019, jointly conducted by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the WHO, was aimed at exploring the status and trends of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors and common health behaviors among students aged 13 to 17 in Vietnam.

The survey was based on a sample of 7,796 students from 81 middle and high schools selected by probability proportional to size sampling methods in 20 provinces. 

The first GSHS in Vietnam was conducted in 2013, on a smaller scale, with a sample of 3,465 grade 8 -12 students at 50 middle and high schools in 13 provinces and cities.

According to the 2019 survey, 5.24 percent of the students reported ever having made sexual intercourse, and the percentage of those who had sex before age 14 was 3.51 percent, or 2.37 times higher than the 1.48 percent in 2013.  

Meanwhile, the overall percentage of students who had sexual intercourse with two or more partners was very small: 1.6 percent in 2013 and zero percent in 2019. 

In both surveys, the proportion of male students who had sexual intercourse, 8.55 percent in 2013 and 6.88 percent in 2019, was remarkably higher than those of female students, 4.77 percent in 2013 and 3.61 percent in 2019.

Among those who had sexual intercourse in 2019, 42.4 percent used a condom and 44 percent resorted to other birth control methods, which were lower than the 52.6 percent and 64.2 percent in 2013, respectively.

Having sex before the age of 14 without using a condom may be contributing to high levels of teen and unwanted pregnancies, as well as a high rate of sexually transmitted diseases, the report said. 

It is therefore necessary to improve sex education at middle and high schools in Vietnam, it advised.

In addition to sexual behaviors, the GSHS 2019 also covers many other topics including dietary behaviors, mental health, physical activity, substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and drugs), and violence, among others.

“This second round of the GSHS was conducted to provide critical data for Vietnam to monitor trends in NCDs and other health risk factors among schoolchildren aged 13 - 17 years,” Dr. Kidong Park, WHO representative in Vietnam, stated in the report.

The survey delivered the necessary data for the country to report on relevant indicators for the nine global voluntary NCD targets, as well as youth-related indicators, set out by the Party’s Resolution 20 in 2017, the Vietnam Healthy Program, and the National Strategy for Prevention and Control of NCDs by 2025, Dr. Park said.

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