Teens and their mothers overestimate the rate of teen sexual activity, according to a Canadian study.

Over 1100 teens and their mothers participated in the survey, and estimated that by ages 17 to 18 years old, 66% had had sexual experience. The actual figure is 42% for boys and 47% for girls.

"Teens talk about sex. That does not mean that they do it," said lead researcher Dr. Jean-Ives Frappier of Montreal's Sainte Justine University Health Centre.

This study appears in Pediatrics and Child Health.

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Labels: awareness, perceptions, sex