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It's a question that inevitably comes up at the start of a new relationship. Should you reveal how many sexual partners you've had, or keep quiet in fear that the number of notches on your bedstead will be vastly different to his?

One thing is for sure, today's young women have had far more sexual partners by the age of 24 than previous generations, including women in the liberated swinging sixties.

A study of 3,000 women found that most had had more than five sexual partners between the ages of 18 and 24 - three times the number of women in the sixties.

If that number seems high, consider that eight per cent of those surveyed said they had slept with more than 10 partners by the time they were 25.

The poll, which was commissioned by Lloyds Pharmacy, found that despite an increase in education and liberal attitudes, sexual health is not improving.

Tony Kerridge, of Marie Stopes International, said it was almost impossible to compare the sexual activity of the 1960s with today. "It would be good to think that young people today are more about their sexual health but the evidence doesn't suggest they are," he said.

"It was only the Jade Goody effect last year that helped improve attendances for screening, and it remains the case that English women have to wait for a preventative cancer screening service that is provided five years earlier to women in the rest of the UK.

"In Scandinavian countries, better education about relationships as well as sexual health means they have lower rates of abortion and sexually transmitted infections."

Even more good reason to have a chat with your teenage daughter about going for cervical screening and staying healthy, as well as avoiding unwanted pregnancies.

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