The next time your teen turns on MTV 's `` 16 and Pregnant , '' avoid any disparaging remarks . The show may actually encourage him or her to practice safer sex , according to a new study . The study , released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research , says `` 16 and Pregnant '' ultimately led to a 5.7 % reduction in teen births in the 18 months after its premiere on TV . This would account for about one-third of the overall decline in teen births in the United States during that period , researchers Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine concluded . In 2011 , a total of 329,797 babies were born in the United States to girls between the ages of 15 and 19 ; that 's a rate of 31.3 births per every 1,000 girls , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The CDC does not have rates available for 2012 ; Kearney and Levine say that number dropped to 29.4 per every 1,000 that year . The declining teen birth rate is a well-documented trend in the United States . Between 1991 and 2008 , the rate dropped steadily at an average of about 2.5 % a year . In the past four years , it has dropped even more dramatically at a rate of about 7.5 % per year . `` We were really curious as to what was going on , '' said Kearney , who has been studying teen pregnancy interventions alongside Levine for more than a decade . When the researchers learned that Sarah Brown , CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy , thought MTV 's shows may have something to do with it , they thought : `` Could that really be true ? '' U.S. women having fewer children . `` 16 and Pregnant '' premiered in June 2009 and has been on for five seasons , with a total of 47 episodes through October 2013 . The show features one teen every episode and follows her through several months during and after pregnancy . The documentary-style show inspired several spinoffs , including the popular `` Teen Mom . '' Both `` 16 and Pregnant '' and `` Teen Mom '' have experienced their share of controversy . The shows are often criticized for glamorizing teen pregnancy . `` Instead of really helping viewers understand the day-to-day responsibilities of attending to a new infant -- scrubbing poop stains or spit-up out of clothing -- or dwelling on the 'mundane , ' MTV chooses to focus on the girls ' volatile relationships with the babies ' fathers or their new body piercings and tattoos , '' Parents Television Council Director Melissa Henson wrote on CNN . `` That makes for better TV . '' Kearney and Levine looked at Nielsen ratings as well as search data from Google Trends and Twitter to determine the show 's potential impact on teen birth rates . They recorded spikes in Google searches and Twitter mentions about the show when new episodes aired and looked specifically for searches on terms such as `` birth control '' and `` abortion '' alongside those spikes . Photos : When teens want to have children . They then analyzed geographic data to see whether locations with higher search activity and tweets about `` 16 and Pregnant '' showed higher levels of searches and tweets about birth control and abortion . They did . The researchers also looked to see whether high viewership in certain areas corresponded with a bigger drop in teen births . It did . `` The results of our analysis indicate that exposure to '16 and Pregnant ' was high and that it had an influence on teens ' thinking regarding birth control and abortion , '' the researchers write . That 's all well and scientific , but could a TV show really have that big of an impact on teen birth rates ? `` It 's an extraordinary study done by two very cautious economists , '' said Bill Albert , chief program officer at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy . `` I jokingly refer to them as Drs . No because they generally set out to say , 'That does n't work . ' For that reason alone , we take it very seriously . '' Kearney said that while she and Levine did a lot of `` fancy economic work '' to make sure their conclusion was right , the most compelling evidence came from the teens ' social media language . `` The text of the tweets are phenomenal : 'This reminds me to take my birth control . ' 'Watching 16 & Pregnant , going to take my birth control , ' `` she remembered reading . Of course , no one , including the study authors , is saying that MTV alone is responsible for the declining teen birth rate . Pediatricians support condoms for teens . About half of the recent dramatic decline can be attributed to the recession , Kearney says . Research shows that all birth rates fall during slow economic times , including teens ' ; those who were once ambivalent about using birth control often become more conscientious when they realize that finding -- or keeping -- a job to support a baby would be difficult . Kearney believes TV shows like `` 16 and Pregnant '' work to deter teens in a similar way . `` Shows that make it clear how hard it can be ... affect girls who might not care otherwise , '' she said . `` You see she 's fighting with her boyfriend on a daily basis . She 's gaining weight . Her friends are partying without her . '' Making the immediate cost clear seems to get through to teens more than statistics that show what happens to teen parents when they 're 25 , Kearney says . Teens may turn to TV shows about sex because they 're lacking other options , Albert says . A recent study published in the medical journal JAMA showed that doctors certainly are n't spending a lot of time talking about the important topic : The average conversation about sex between doctors and teens in the study lasted less than two minutes . Doctors do n't talk to adolescents about sex . And parents , Albert says , are often shocked to learn that teens say their parents have a major influence on their decisions about sex . `` I think the takeaway here is that media can be , and often is , a force for good , '' Albert said . `` We have always viewed these particular shows as sex education for the 21st century . ''
MTV 's `` 16 and Pregnant '' may encourage teens to use birth control . Teen births in the United States have been steadily declining since 1991 . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were an estimated 650,000 teen pregnancies last year, down from a peak of 1.06 million in 1999.