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Talking to your teenagers about sex brings down the chances of their engaging in risky sexual activity, according to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

It is better that the talks should be conducted by mothers, and daughters should get more help from the counselling, according to the study, which examined more than 25,000 teenagers over 30 years to come to a conclusion.

"Results of this study confirm that parent-adolescent sexual communication is a protective factor for youth, and a focus on communication remains justified in future intervention efforts," said Laura Widman, one of the authors.

Apart from risky activity, talking about sex to children just improves their chances of using condoms and contraceptives, according to Medical Daily.

"Across more than three decades of research and 25,314 adolescents, this meta-analysis suggests that communication with parents - particularly among mothers and girls - has a protective effect on adolescent contraceptive and condom use."

Hence, parents can have a positive effect on their children's sexual activity just by telling them about how the world works, and how they can benefit.

Further research is needed, though, especially with more "state-of-the-art assessments, longitudinal designs, and mixed-methods approaches", in order to take this forward, and understand better the effect of parents on the health of their children.