Pregnancy among 10 to 14-year-olds still high in 2022 at over 2,000 –POPCOM

The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) on Monday said the number of pregnancies among 10 to 14-year-olds was still high in 2022 at more than 2,000.

“Ang nakakalungkot lamang po ang kaakibat po nito ay actually mataas pa rin ang bilang ng mga nabubuntis sa edad na 10 hanggang 14,” POPCOM Deputy Executive Director Lolito Tacardon said at a televised public briefing.

(Sadly, the number of pregnancies among 10 to 14-year-olds is still high.)

“From the vital statistics po galing po from PSA din, mga around 2,000 plus ang pagbubuntis sa mga bata na 10 to 14 (from the PSA, there are around over 2,000 pregnancies among 10 to 14-year-olds),” he added.

He made the statement after the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) reported that teenage pregnancy among Filipinos aged 15 to 19 years old declined from 8.6% in 2017 to 5.4% in 2022.

Aside from this, the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey by the Population Institute also showed a decline from 13% to 6.7.%

However, Tacardon pointed out that the two surveys did not include pregnancies in the 10 to 14 age group.

“Yun po yung medyo another side of the story (That’s another side of the story),” he said.

According to Tacardon, the decline in the pregnancy rate among teenagers may be attributed to the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic where most of the interactions are only online. — DVM, GMA Integrated News