It is not wise for parents to shrug off the dangers of so-called body art.

The news from the tattoo/body-piercing front does not seem to be getting any better without even taking into account the risks for disease and infections resulting from such activity.

Youngsters see entertainers and other celebrities with varying degrees of tattoos and piercings; some feel compelled to be part of the movement. Experts advise parents that permissiveness or disinterest in such activity could be doing the youngsters a huge disservice.

According to the June issue of Pediatrics, young people who have tattoos or have their noses, tongues, eyebrows, or navels pierced are more likely to have sex, smoke cigarettes or marijuana, use drugs, binge-drink, skip school, get into fights and receive poor grades.

That’s a depressing collection of undesirable activities outlined by Linda Marsa of the Los Angeles Times in an article on the hazards of the tattoo-piercing trends.

“They’re (tattoos and piercings) a marker that these kids are prone to risky behaviors,” says Elizabeth B. Myhre, a co-author of the Pediatrics publication study.

Researchers at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego surveyed 484 young people ranging in age from 12 to 22 and found that 13.2 percent had tattoos and 26.9 percent had body piercings.

Compared with unadorned counterparts, according to Marsa, adolescents and young adults with tattoos or body piercings were twice as likely to engage in sexual activity and use “gateway” drugs such as marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. They were three times as likely to use hard drugs, such as Ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Males with tattoos were more likely to engage in violent behavior than those without tattoos, and females with body piercings were twice as likely to get into fights. Also, girls and young women with tattoos or piercings had a higher incidence of eating disorders and thought more about suicide. The younger the members of both genders were when they got their “body art,” the more likely they were to be involved with gateway drugs.

Since most adolescents with the adornments are older than 17, Marsa adds, the tattoos and piercings could be a sign that young people are already in trouble.

Repeating, all this alarming data does not even take into account the health dangers associated with the creation of body art. Dirty instruments, tainted inks and dyes, unsanitary conditions around the piercings and bad personal health habits in general create strong prospects for problems not only immediate but down the line.

There are, of course, “clean and sober” people with tattoos and piercings. Perhaps the majority of them fit into that category. But the troublesome aspects are difficult to ignore.