MTV’s reality shows “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” sometimes are used as illustrations of everything wrong with reality television. Critics allege the shows are crass and exploitative, and their stars are plastered across tabloids as a reward for being, well, 16 and pregnant. Yet there’s some evidence such programming may be one of the biggest reasons as to why teen pregnancy rates are dropping.

Teen pregnancy has been falling for a while, of course. Between 1991 and 2008, teen pregnancy rates in the United States dropped about 2.5 percent each year; but since 2008, when MTV’s wildly popular pregnancy shows began, teen pregnancy rates have dropped an average of 7.5 percent annually.

“That means almost one-third of the dramatic total decrease in teen pregnancy can be linked not to state and local public health efforts, not to the work of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy, but to a television program created for profit and primarily known for churning out fodder for tabloid magazine spreads and future sex tapes,” writes Phil Schneider in Quartz. “That makes MTV reality television the single biggest factor in bringing the teen pregnancy rate to its lowest point in decades.” (Quartz)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Check out his entertainment blog or follow him on Twitter.