THE Let's Talk About Sex campaign has garnered praise from health professionals and leading figures across North East Lincolnshire in helping them better understand your sex lives.

A total of 280 young people and 339 adults filled out our surveys online at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk, answering questions from the best people to talk to about sex, to the kinds of contraception they use.

Using this information, sexual health professionals in the area can better model their services on the things YOU need, helping to tackle rising STI rates and some of the highest figures for teenage pregnancy in the country.

Programme co-ordinator for sexual health with North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus Sheena MacRae said one of the most interesting myths to be dispelled by the survey was the belief of some adults that young people are having sex at younger ages.

She said: "It was encouraging to see that the majority of young people, 63 per cent, believe the ages of 15 and 17 are when most become sexually active, whereas the majority of adults believe this age is a lot lower, between the ages of 12 and 14.

"So this is a good example of how adults can get a more realistic view of what is really happening from the results of this survey."

Meanwhile, the survey showed young people feel information on where to get contraception and advice on teenage pregnancy and STIs are the most important issues at hand.

Sarah Wise, consultant midwife for teenage pregnancy, said: "It was interesting that they feel more teen mums should go into schools to discuss the realities of teenage pregnancy.

"We are not sure that this would be accepted locally, but we think it would be a good thing to try and certainly something the peer mentoring projects may want to consider.

"The data from this survey will prove invaluable as we plan our services in the future."

In terms of sex education, both adults and young people said they wanted to see more access to services like the Mash (Multi Agency Sexual Health) education programme.

Geoff Barnes, deputy director in public health with NELCTP, added: "It is good to see that so many young people rate the quality of sex and relationship education received in their secondary school highly.

"However, it is concerning that around a fifth of participants do not recall receiving it.

"Overall, I think the survey is a useful addition to our local knowledge, which should help us in the further improvement of sexual health services in North East Lincolnshire."

Paul Watson, co-ordinator for the Coast chlamydia screening programme, said: "This joint piece of work was really worthwhile doing and a very useful way of stimulating reasoned public debate on what is a sensitive issue.

"The trick now is disseminating the results of the survey widely, especially amongst the education sectors, as it would seem there are plenty of implications for our schools in this."

Principal of Havelock Academy, Nick O'Sullivan said he believed one of the major benefits of the survey was that it allowed people to discuss the subject without being "fearful" and hoped the technique would be adopted in other areas of public health.

On hearing the results would be used to help shape the future of sexual health care in the area, he said: "That's great news. It's a great step forward"

He added that the survey had also encouraged the school to continue its drive to encourage older pupils to get involved in teaching younger students the facts of life.

He said: "We had already come up with the idea of peer mentors before the campaign, but the results have just strengthened our resolve that we are doing the right thing.

"We know children pick up a lot of their knowledge on the subject in the playground, so if we can ensure the information that is around is as accurate as possible, that has got to be a good thing."