SAN ANTONIO -- Fewer teenage girls are having babies in Bexar County, but teenage pregnancy rates are still higher than the national average, according to a new report released Friday.

The report, prepared by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and Project Worth, a teenage pregnancy prevention program, said that in 2003, 40 per 1,000 girls ages 15-17 in Bexar County conceived a child. The national average is 22 per 1,000.

The report cited that school-age childbearing fell 31 percent in 2003, when 40 per 1,000 girls compared to its peak in 1994, when it was 59 per 1,000.

School-age pregnancies also fell 34 percent during that time period, from 76 per 1,000 to 50 per 1,000.

"Preventing teen pregnancy is not just about sex," said Ashley Dickson, of Project Worth. "It's about giving young people hope for the future."

The report also said that rates of school-age pregnancy and childbearing are much higher for Hispanic teens than for non-Hispanic whites.

School-age birth rates in 2003 were highest in inner-city ZIP codes.

Of the school districts, San Antonio Independent School District had the highest number of births to females under age 18 and Edgewood Independent School District had the highest rate of births to school-age females.