 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Guillermo J. Gonzalez-Perez, PhD1, Maria Guadalupe Vega-Lopez, PhD1, Armando Muñoz de la Torre, MPH1, Carlos Cabrera-Pivaral, PhD1, and Maria E. Flores, PhD2. (1) Center for Health, Population and Human Development Studies, University of Guadalajara, Mexico, Modena 1134. Colonia Providencia. Sector Hidalgo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 44630, Mexico, 52(33)36411119, ggonzal@cencar.udg.mx, (2) Center for Health, Population and Human Development Studies, University of Guadalajara, Modena 1134, Guadalajara, 44630, Mexico
This study seeks to describe the evolution in the last 20 years of the fertility rate in the age groups 10-14 and 15-19 in Mexico and to identify the socioeconomic variables that better explain the adolescent fertility rate inter-state variations in 2000. Information on social indicators, population and births used for the study comes from Mexican official sources. Fertility rates were calculated for the age groups of 10-14 and 15-19; triennial fertility rates, centered in 2000, were calculated for each state; the observed tendencies of the rates in the studied groups were evaluated through a lineal regression analysis; through the use of the multiple regression analysis (“stepwise” method) the variables that better explained the inter-state variations in the adolescent fertility rates were determined. Findings show a falling trend in the adolescent fertility rate although less marked than the observed in other reproductive ages. The variables that better explained the spatial differences in the fertility rate were, in the group 15-19, " percentage of housings with earth floor","mean age to the first union of the women" and "the economically active population's proportion that wins less than 2 minimum wages", and in the group 10-14, " percentage of housings with earth floor". The study shows that poverty and social margination are key elements to understand the spatial variations of the adolescent fertility in Mexico and offers elements to develop policies and programs guided to reduces the adolescent fertility in Mexico and its remarkable inter-state disparities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescents, International, International Reproductive Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.