Teen Pregnancy in VirginiaTeen pregnancy is primarily a critical health issue for the public, affecting social, economic, health, and education futures of the child and the mother. According to the Virginia Adolescent Reproductive Health Facts (2008) from the Office of Adolescent Health, Virginia was ranked 37th out of the current 51 states for pregnancies among women ages 15 to 19. The scale used implied that 1 was the highest teen pregnancy rate and 51 was the lowest teen pregnancy rate (Guttmacher Institute, 2010). In 2011, Virginia ranked 40th out of 51 states. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. I will complete the needs assessments by searching various reliable websites such as the Virginia.gov database, Virginia Health Department, guttmacher.org databases. , the Office of Adolescent Health databases, the Virginian Pilot archives, and the Washington Post archives. Through collecting data related to teen pregnancies in Virginia, I will be able to draw a good conclusion about teen pregnancy rates in Virginia. I will also discuss other factors such as food preferences, consumption patterns, nutritional level, overweight population, underweight population and the extent of drug abuse among pregnant adolescents in Virginia. This article will focus on teen pregnancies in Virginia by providing various statistical data. In Virginia, over the past decade, there has been an increase in the rate of teen pregnancy. According to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), in 2003, Virginia's adolescent birth rate was approximately 36.1/1,000 women ages 15-19. But in 2013, the birth rate dropped as low as 20.1 births, giving Virginia the twelfth lowest incidence rate of teen births among 50 fifty states. Compared to its peers, the state of Virginia had a relatively lower rate for adolescent girls. Tennessee (34.7) and North Carolina (28.4), although it was slightly higher than Maryland, which had 19.4. Massachusetts led the nation with approximately 12.1/1,000 teen births during the same period (Guttmacher Institute, 2010). According to the Guttmacher Institute (2010), the teen pregnancy rate in Virginia has increased to approximately 57/1,000 teen births. This is consistent with the trend that has been established even in other states. At that particular time, Virginia ranked 22nd in the United States. Other states like Maryland had 57/1,000, North Carolina 59/1,000, Tennessee 62/1,000, and New Hampshire was the leading state with about 28/1,000 teen pregnancies. Additional information from VDH showed the South West had the highest rate. of teenage pregnancies with 44.7/1,000 while the North had the lowest with 18.0/1,000 teenage pregnancies. In 2013, the VDH overall report showed that there were 7,335 teen pregnancies in Virginia, which represents an average of approximately 27.8/1,000 women ages 15-19. According to the Virginia.gov database, (2010) approximately 54% of all pregnancies in Virginia were unintended. This represents approximately 84,000 pregnancies. Teenage pregnancy, which concerns me, affected 48 out of 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 (Virginia.gov, 2010). At that timeIn particular, the national teen pregnancy rate was approximately 57/1,000 teen births. Although it is unclear how many teens have abortions, about 52% of all unintended pregnancies in Virginia resulted in successful births and about 34% resulted in abortions, with the remainder being miscarriages. During the same period, the state and federal governments spent $506.5 million primarily on all unintended pregnancies. Approximately $312.0 million was provided by the federal government and approximately $194.6 million was paid by the state. Other data from VDH shows that teen pregnancy in Virginia is an issue that requires public attention. The number of births to women under the age of 20 in the United States was approximately 333,746. In Virginia itself, there were 6,581 female pregnancies in Virginia itself (Virginia Department of Health, 2011). The number of births before age 15 in the United States was 3,974, and in Virginia alone there were 57 female pregnancies. Females ages 15 to 17 numbered approximately 95,538 in the United States and 1,709 in Virginia alone. Those aged 18 to 19 were approximately 234,234 in the United States and 4,815 in Virginia alone. For women aged 15 to 19, there were 329,772 in the United States and 6,524 in Virginia alone. When considering the ethnicity or race of the mother, it was found that the number of non-Hispanic white births was 130,198 in the United States and 3,119 in Virginia. For non-Hispanic blacks, the number of births was 79,936 and 2,428 in Virginia. For American Indians or Alaska Natives, the number of births was 6,897 in the United States, and the rate was unclear in Virginia. For Asians or Pacific Islanders, the number of births was 5,773 in the United States and 76 in Virginia. Virginia. For Hispanics, the number of births was 111,236 in the United States and 926 in Virginia. Teen birth rates in the United States were 31.3/1,000 in the United States and 24.5/1,000 in Virginia (Virginia Department of Health, 2011). Birth rates for adolescents aged 15 to 17 were 15.4/1,000 in the United States and 11.2/1,000 in Virginia. Birth rates for adolescents aged 18-19 were 54.1/1,000 in the United States and 42.7. /1,000 in Virginia. In Virginia, the percentage of women under the age of 20 was 47% for non-Hispanic whites, 37% for non-Hispanic blacks, 1% for Asians or Pacific Islanders, and 14% for Hispanics. This shows that teenage births in Virginia did not start now, but started a long time ago, about a decade ago. But according to the above data, it is clear that teenage pregnancies have been gradually decreasing in Virginia (Elizabeth, 2010). Virginia adolescent girls' food preferences and consumption typically range from grains, fruits, vegetables, and junk foods. Junk food is the most preferred food choice among Virginia teenage girls, along with soda. Females mainly consume cereals and respect the minimum intake often recommended by the food pyramid. Women only consume 0.8 servings of whole grains. Although some eat fruits, it was found that around 38% of pregnant adolescents did not consume any food. Consumption of dairy products is generally low, especially among pregnant adolescents. According to VDH, approximately 9% of women aged 14 to 18 and approximately 25% of adolescent girls aged 9 to 13 have taken these products. What was found to be consumed in large quantities weresoft drinks, where approximately 70 to 85% of young people aged 9 to 18 consumed them daily. Nearly 20% of pregnant adolescents aged 14 to 18 consumed more than 3 servings per day. The nutritional level of pregnant teenagers in Virginia was found to be low, and this is the reason why they gave birth to underweight infants. Indeed, most pregnant adolescents mainly lack support from their families since they are not yet married. In addition, they do not attend antenatal care services because they do not accept themselves and are shy about their pregnancy. It is at this age that most adolescent girls enter school, and pregnancy causes them to drop out of school to support themselves. Therefore, as they do not have close companions during their pregnancy period and due to stress, their nutrition is very poor. The overweight rate among Virginia adolescents ages 15 to 19 is 29.8 percent. The underweight rate for the same population is low, around 7%. During the early years of teenage pregnancy in Virginia, they lose their appetite for food, which causes them to lose more weight. But after the second month, adolescents are mostly accepted by their family and society and stress levels decrease. This causes pregnant teenagers to eat a lot and gain more weight during the time they are pregnant until they give birth, after which they return to their normal state. Teenage drug abuse is prevalent among 12th and 19th grade students. Women who smoked in 2011 accounted for 16%. Those who chewed tobacco, dipped tobacco, or took tobacco accounted for about 2%. Those who drank alcohol made up approximately 19% (Virginia Department of Health, 2011). Those who used marijuana made up 31% in Virginia. Those using any form of cocaine made up about 2% in Virginia. It turned out to be easy for students at the school to obtain medicine. Most adolescents (about 9%) usually got their medications from the gas station or gas station. Students are generally generous while at school and many obtain medications from their friends. When teenagers are at home, it turns out that it is difficult for them to obtain these medications. The extent of tobacco and alcohol sales among adolescents is generally determined by their adolescent peers. Only a small population sources drugs from outside, but the majority receives them or buys them from colleagues. The prevalence of arrests related to alcohol and other drugs was approximately 5%. These are the students who get extremely drunk or abuse other drugs like marijuana and painkillers, which their teachers recognize. But most of them are not easily stopped, especially those who distribute them, because they know how to use them appropriately. In particular, regarding pregnant adolescents in Virginia, no hospitalizations have been recognized by the VDH due to tobacco, alcohol, or other drug abuse. There are various leisure and exercise opportunities for adolescent girls, especially while they are in school. These activities involve drawing, playing instruments such as piano and guitar, music, drama clubs, religious clubs, soccer, basketball, hockey, chess and volleyball, among others. All of this is offered to students to ensure that they have a variety of things to do in their free time. Activities, especially those that involve physical activity, present a.