Parents are failing to educate their children about sex so youngsters are turning to magazines to learn the facts of life.

A new report from education watchdog Ofsted said lads' magazines provided a valuable resource for teenage boys even though they are sometimes explicit and sexist.

And school nurses are providing an important service by offering the morning after pill to give pupils, the watchdog said. Miriam Rosen, Ofsted's director of education, suggested that parents needed to put their embarrassment to one side and talk to their children.

"No matter how difficult it may be, parents and teachers have to discuss sensitive issues with their children and pupils to help them make the right choices as they grow up," she said.

The Ofsted study, based on 350 school inspections over the past five years, said pupils felt some of their parents lacked the knowledge and skills to talk to them directly about sensitive issues.

Girls aged 12 and 13 are now less likely to talk to their mothers about sensitive issues such as sex as traditional mother-daughter relationships change.

"Parents often seek to approach personal, social and health issues with their children tangentially, if at all," the report said.

"As well as failing to provide the information themselves, some parents express concern about the suitability of information young people receive from other sources, such as magazines, even when these could be useful.

"The increase in the number of magazines aimed at young men, while at times reinforcing sexist attitudes, has helped to redress the balance of advice available to young people.

"While many magazines stress the importance of safe sex, some communicate, inaccurately, the perception that all young people are sexually active," Ofsted said.

"Nevertheless, the problem pages' in magazines remain a positive source of advice and reassurance for young people."