Gender differences in health and mortality

We evaluate the mortality gap between sexes that favors females well before birth. Censuses and vital statistics are used. Estimates refer to most recent data up to 2011. Analyses refer to Brazil, a country where infant/child mortality (ICM) have sharply decreased. It is a developing setting without evidence of gender preference at early ages.
Besides the ICM according to sex, indicators used are the male to female mortality ratio (MFMR) and sex ratio of the population under age 10. ICM is evaluated using the Brass method on children survivorship. Values indicate that MFMR tends to decline over time thus improvements in child survivorship favor relatively more baby boys. Similar evidence is found using vital statistics with different degree of reliability. MFMR below 100, indicating that infant male mortality is lower than among girls are frequent. The pattern delineated by the data describes small ICM differences by sex when ICM decreases. Differences are, apparently, smaller than those found in developed setting or model life tables.
This trend could be associated to the fast decline in ICM stimulated by huge social investments originated by the MDG; more research is needed to evaluate whether implementation and monitoring of social policies, particularly those related to maternal and child programs

Background
Sex ratio data provides strong evidence for increasing gender inequality in India. Nutrition and mortality data reiterate this finding for different regions and periods. For historical periods, we do not have data except the aggregated data on sex-ratios from the Census that started only in 1871. Moreover, under enumeration of unmarried and young females was common in some regions in historical periods. Hence, we investigate gender inequality using adult height data.

Data and methods
We use ship records of "coolie" (indentured) emigrants from India to Fiji, Natal, Jamaica and Mauritius during the 19-20c. Also, Indian DHS (NFHS-3) was used to investigate gender inequality from 1955 to 1982.

Results
On an average, the gap between male and female heights was between 10 and 12 cm and the female heights stagnated after 1950. There is an increase in gender dimorphism from 1820-1830, 1855-1870 and 1955-1982. In the 19c, gender dimorphism increased when the male heights declined. However, in the 20c, we observe a slight increase in dimorphism despite of increase in male height. South Indian women were taller than North Indian women during the 19C pointing towards higher gender inequality in the North. Stature can be used as an indicator of gender inequality along with other traditional indicators like sex-ratio.

This paper, using data from 2004 to 2009 Iran Civil registration Organization. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in this paper. First, to assess time trends in mortality over time, the proportional mortality ratio (PMR) was calculated for each year and also for five-year intervals. Second, Cox proportional hazard models were fitted for deaths of all ages. The model specification accounts for residence, sex and cause of death. Measure of association among characteristic were expressed using hazard ratios (HR) with %95 confidence intervals (CI). Results indicate that risk of death were significant for residence, sex and cause of death. Results indicate that with controlling all factors, risk of death among women were 0.17 lower than men. In the other words, women live longer but, with entering cause of death to the previous model, risk of women death increase 0.3 than the men. With controlling all factors risk of rural were 0.6 lower than urban, it means that rural live longer. But, with entering cause of death to this model the rural directions of risk change. Because of longer life of urban we can conclude that increase in risk rate was due to differences in cause of death.
Key words: mortality, Tehran, hazard ratios

This paper considered maternal mortality as a human right concern and specifically a gender issue. The relationship between maternal mortality and gender issues is not obvious. However, most of women problems in some countries could have their roots in the important level of discrimination based gender. In this paper, we believe that inequalities and inequities based gender issues on education, employment, health, etc, increase considerably the risk of women death during pregnancy, delivery and post-partum period. Maternal mortality and discrimination base gender are two important women matters in Burkina Faso. But, the relationship between them is neglected by researchers as well as policy makers and deciders. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between gender issues and maternal mortality. Findings show a real and important influence of discrimination base gender in the domain of education, age at marriage, economic activities and empowerment on maternal mortality.

Malawi just as many other developing countries, continues to be challenged by the problem of child under-nutrition. Recent estimates indicate that in Malawi, 47% of children under the age of five are stunted whilst 13% are underweight (ORC Macro and NSO, 2011). Most of studies, including those conducted in Malawi report of a higher likelihood of stunting and underweight for male children compared to female children (Madise et al., 1999, Chirwa and Ngalawa, 2008). This study uses the 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey data to study if the relationship between sex and child under-nutrition in Malawi depends on the age of child and undertakes age group multivariate analysis to explore factors that are important for child under-nutrition amongst children in different age groups. The findings indicate that although female children have a lower likelihood of stunting and a lower likelihood of underweight compared to male children, there is a significant interaction between age and sex of child. Male children are more likely to be underweight and more likely to be stunted compared to female children during the weaning time when nutritional demands increase as children get introduced to solid foods.

Biologically, one of the main differences between males
and females is the reproductive function of females. This difference becomes an important social issue insofar lives of many women are threatened during the period from the pregnancy to the year after delivery. As a lesson of safe motherhood program implementation, it is now well known that every pregnant woman is likely to die from maternal causes. Therefore, women in countries with high fertility levels faced several times (sometimes more than 6 times) the risk of maternal mortality in their life and at any new pregnancy experienced, their risk of death increase. Despite the limits ob-
served in programs to reduce maternal mortality, mainly based on access to health services and delivery assisted by qualified health workers, actions against maternal mortality are still given less consideration to the others socio-demographic aspects of the problem. This study suggests that programs on maternal mortality reduction should consider family planning as a core component of the strategy. Maternal mortality and family planning programs must be closely related to achieve the target number 5 of the millennium goal. In this regard, this study aims to prove and quantify the
importance of family planning in maternal mortality trends in Burkina Faso.

Levels and patterns of mortality by age, sex and race/color are among the most important indicators of health. Research shows that blacks and whites differ widely in their profiles of morbidity and mortality, but little is known about the sensitivity of interracial differences in mortality to different methods of estimation. This paper presents, compares and evaluates life tables by sex and race/color for all of Brazil, constructed on the basis of indirect demographic methods of estimation based on information regarding surviving children and mothers’ mortality (variants of the Brass indirect method). The data was taken from the Brazilian demographic censuses and nationally representative household surveys (PNADS). Information was also obtained by using direct methods, which combine statistics on reported deaths and intercensal growth rates. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method and present confidence intervals for estimates of mortality by sex, age and race/color. Finally, we discuss the impact that racial reclassification may have on recent estimates.

In the world, death by road traffic accident (RTA), self-inflicted injuries and interpersonal violence are among the first four leading causes of death. Most cross national research has relied upon data from countries with complete vital registration systems. Consequently, little is known about the age and sex patterns of violence related mortality in developing countries, including India. The paper intends to highlight patterns of violence related adult mortality in India for different age-group and sex. The data related to total violent deaths considering homicides, suicides and (RTA) are taken from the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. The Census data (2001) has been taken as the base year, and has been projected for each consecutive year from 2002 to 2011 using SPECTRUM software package. There is continuous increase in the total homicides, suicides and RTA deaths till 2011, except in the year 2009. There are sex differentials in the adult mortality in homicide, suicide and RTA deaths, that is, these death rates are more for males than females in all age groups. Unlike the homicide and suicide cases, the RTA cases are increasing in all age groups irrespective of sexes.

ABSTRACT:
Aim: The aim of this study is to compare gender differences in risk and protection factors (tobacco, alcohol, diet and physical activity) for non-communicable diseases in Argentina and Chile, in 2009-2010.
Methods: Data sources used are “Second National Risk Factors Survey 2009” (Argentina) and “National Health Survey 2009-2010” (Chile) to analyze risk and protection factors like dependent variables for non-communicable diseases. Both age-standardized and crude prevalence rates for each behavior risk factor are calculated for men and women according to education level and marital status. We use logistic regression to estimate odds ratio (ORs) and corresponding 95 percent confidence intervals to indicate the link between gender and behavior risk factors adjusting by age group, education level and marital status.
Expected findings: We expect to find not only gender differences in behavioral risk between Argentina and Chile, but also within each country and due educational and generational differences.

The present study attempts to enquire the selective gender differentials in health seeking behaviour and outcome among the children in small families using NFHS III data. The analysis has covered the states which have attained replacement level fertility. The study hypothesizes three facts: first, there exist gender preferences towards son in small families as an outcome of desired sex; second, assuming this reference get reflected in differential health treatment of boys and girls, families possessing same sex children are relatively worse than those having both the sexes. Finally, even among the same sex siblings, boy-boy combination has lower discrimination in higher parity than girl-girl. Findings reveal that boys who are born into a household with no other boys and an older sister appear to be most ‘wanted.’ They have significantly higher odds in favor of immunization and lesser chance of being underweight than a single girl child. Girls are seemed to be most discriminated when they are the younger ones. It is higher when they have an older sister than an older brother. In terms of same sex composition of siblings, younger girls are significantly more discriminated when they have a same sex sibling than the younger boys.

Keywords: Selective, Replacement Level, Parity, Discrimination