Female arts students 'most likely to be sexually active'

Melbourne, Dec 4 : Female arts students are more likely to be sexually active, while male students who study science at university are mostly virgins, says a new Australian study.

To reach the conclusion, a pilot study was conducted at the University of Sydney in which 185 students, aged 16 to 25, were quizzed on their sexual history and awareness of the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.

The research revealed that arts students were "younger, more likely to be sexually active and to report having little or no knowledge of chlamydia''.

"Males in the study were less likely to have had sex as a group compared to the group of females in the sample,'' News.com.au quoted the study, published in the journal Sexual Health, as stating.

"Science students were also less likely to have had sex compared to their counterparts in other faculties.," the research added.

Citing the study, Sydney-based psychotherapist Stephen Carroll said cultural factors would have played a role in the results, as many international students came to Australia to study science.

"Boys also start having sex later than girls. And who are the people at unis that go to the rave parties and the bar? ... it's not the nerdy boy science students. They're carrying on doing their experiments, going to the library or doing their assignments," the expert added.

"Findings suggest that the most at risk group for chlamydia infection is not well educated about their risk of infection,'' the study, which was undertaken by researchers including Dr Melissa Kang, attached to the University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital, found.

ANI