TV Too Hot for Teens?

Teens who watch shows with strong sexual themes and images are twice as likely to impregnate someone else or be pregnant themselves, the Washington Post reports.

The study, featured in Pediatrics magazine's November issue, claims that while the shows don't necessarily lead to pregnancy, it is up to the parents to monitor what their teens are watching.

Anita Chandra, an author on the study, said, "Not a lot of content on TV talks about the potential negative consequences of sex." She noted that the characters on the show "engage in sexual talk or activity," and "give positive attributes to sex." One of the major problems with this is that none of the characters discuss contraceptives or the risks of having sex.

The names of the shows deemed too sexy weren't released because it would overshadow the study results. But Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, who is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and specializes in children and television, said the results "add to the growing body of evidence that what children see on screen affects their behavior in real life." Also, because children often like to act as the characters they see on television, "that makes these results much more credible," he added.