RESUMO
This note analyzes the association between media exposure and reproductive behavior in 48 developing countries. A summary of part of a more extensive Demographic and Health Surveys report, it shows strong connections between media exposure and the use of modern contraception, the number of children desired, and recent fertility. Television viewing is particularly important; it is assumed to expose viewers to aspects of modern life that compete with traditional attitudes toward the family and is associated with greater use of modern contraceptive methods, with a desire for fewer children, and with lower fertility. These relationships are particularly noteworthy because the data measure only the frequency of media exposure with no information about its content.
Assuntos
Anticoncepcionais , Características da Família , Rádio , Comportamento Reprodutivo , Televisão , Anticoncepcionais/economia , Anticoncepcionais/história , Países em Desenvolvimento/economia , Países em Desenvolvimento/história , Características da Família/etnologia , Características da Família/história , Fertilidade , História do Século XX , História do Século XXI , Humanos , Rádio/economia , Rádio/história , Comportamento Reprodutivo/etnologia , Comportamento Reprodutivo/história , Comportamento Reprodutivo/fisiologia , Comportamento Reprodutivo/psicologia , Televisão/economia , Televisão/históriaRESUMO
Over the past five to ten years, the proportion of women who report recent sexual activity has declined in twelve countries in southern and eastern Africa, but not in most of eleven countries in West Africa. Although concentrated among unmarried women, slight declines are evident among married women and across most ages. Although it is difficult to prove, the most likely explanation is the higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS in southern and eastern Africa.