England has the highest percentage of sexually experienced 15-year-olds in Europe and Canada, a 24-nation survey shows.

Emmanuelle Godeau, MD, PhD, of the University of Toulouse, France, and colleagues asked some 34,000 15-year-olds about their sexual activities as part of a youth health survey. They collected the data in 2002 from students in 23 European countries and Canada.

Generally speaking, 15-year-olds from Western Europe were more likely to report sexual intercourse than those in Eastern Europe. When they did, they also were more likely to report use of effective birth control -- either oral contraceptives or condoms.

Full story: medicinenet.com