SOME 27% of women are having sex before they reach the age of consent. And 10% of people aged 16 to 24 have already slept with more than 10 partners, an NHS survey found.
Last night the trend was blamed on the “pornification” of our culture. The average number of sexual partners in a lifetime is 4.7 for women and 9.3 for men, but more people are losing their virginity earlier.
Data from the Health Survey for England show 27% of women aged 16 to 24 first had sex under the age of consent, compared with 22% of men of the same age.
The 2010 report suggests sexual behaviour has changed over the generations, with the proportion of women who first had sex below the age of 16 increasing over time.
Just 15% of men and 4% of women aged 55 to 69 said they first had sex under the age of 16, alongside 18% of men and 10% of women aged 45 to 54.
Among those aged 35 to 44, 21% of men and 14% of women first had sex under 16.
Published by the NHS Information Centre, today's report found that one in 10 young people aged 16 to 24 have had 10 or more sexual partners.
But 26% of women and 32% of men aged 16 to 24 say they have never had sex.
Young people are more likely than those who are older to have been tested for the sexually-transmitted infection chlamydia (27% of men and 44% of women aged 16 to 24 compared with 6% of men and 12% of women aged 45 to 54).
Across all age groups, men have typically had 9.3 female sexual partners in their lifetime, while women have slept with an average of 4.7 men.
Almost a quarter of all women (24%) have only ever had one sexual partner, compared to 17% of men.
Some 13% of women have had 10 or more partners of the opposite sex, compared with 27% of men.
Today's report also found that obesity among adults is at the highest level since 1993.
Some 26% of men and women were obese in 2010 and, overall, 68% of men and 58% of women were overweight or obese.
The prevalence of obesity has increased from 13% in 1993 to 26% in 2010 among men, and from 16% to 26% among women.
Overall, 16% of men and 17% of women have also been diagnosed with asthma. The survey included data from 8,420 adults and 5,692 children.
Shadow health minister Diane Abbott said: "The rising numbers of girls having under-age sex is alarming.
"It is not a cost-free phenomenon. It poses public health policy challenges and social challenges.
"The underlying cause must be the 'pornification' of the culture and the increasing sexualisation of pre-adolescent girls.
"Too many young girls are absorbing from the popular culture around them that they only have value as sex objects.
"Inevitably they act this notion out. Government needs to respond to spiralling under-age sex, not with pointless schemes to teach abstinence, but with better PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) teaching in schools for both girls and boys.
"I am also concerned that the Government's health reforms will mean local government taking responsibility for sexual health.
"In economically straitened times this could mean cuts in the services offered and even worse under-age sex figures in the future."
Public health minister Anne Milton said: "Young people should think carefully before having sex - it's not something to rush into.
"Consider seriously if it's right for you, what contraception to use and the best way to protect yourself from sexually transmitted infections."
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said of the adult obesity figures: "Any encouragement having read yesterday's toddler obesity improvement has gone out of the window.
"Today's figures simply confirm the worst and illustrate how laughable Government attempts have been to keep Britain from being the fattest nation in Europe.
"Each successive minister for health has been more incompetent than the previous appointee and more or less ensured that we have the disastrous figures we have today."