Sexual practices of church youths in the era of HIV/AIDS: playing the ostrich.

The church could be a powerful force for social and behavioural change, particularly in the current efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Anecdotal evidence suggests that church youths are sexually active but few studies have documented the sexual practices of these youths. We looked at the sexual practices of 341 youths in two churches in southern Nigeria. Sixty-five percent were sexually experienced; age at first sexual intercourse for males was seven years and eight years for females. By 19 years of age, 42% of the females and 44% of the males had become sexually active. In the 12 months preceding the study, 19% of the sexually experienced youths abstained from sex, 30% had one sexual partner and 28% had more than one sexual partner; 60% had used condoms 24% of whom used them always. These results suggest that sexual practices of committed church youths might be similar to those of youths in the wider society. More might be achieved by a more pro-active engagement of the church in young people's sexual and reproductive health matters.