Washington, Sep 7 (IANS): Popular music promotes sexual aggression among adolescents, says a research.

"Popular music can teach young men to be sexually aggressive and treat women as objects while often teaching young women that their value to society is to provide sexual pleasure for others," said the study by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Researchers looked at the trend of rising use of sexually explicit lyrics in music. They analyzed the lyrics of 100 most popular songs from 1959 to 2009 prepared by Billboard magazine, the journal Sexuality & Culture reports.

"It is essential for society that sex education providers are aware of these issues and their impact on adolescent sexual behaviour," said Cougar Hall, who led the study.

The amount of music that eight to 18-year-olds listen to has increased by 45 percent in recent years, rising dramatically with the popularity of MP3 players, such as iPods, according to a Brigham statement.

The authors point out that not all sexual references are equal, and degrading and sexualised music can have a harmful effect on teens.

Girls can be led to judge their personal worth on a sexual level only, leading to poor body image, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

The study was co-authored by Joshua H. West and Shane Hill.