Gender differences in child 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

Despite South Africa being a peaceful democracy for the past 18 years, mortality due to unnatural and violent causes still occur among the youth. However, this is not specific to South Africa; with developed countries experiencing the same trend. Christoffel (1994) found that death due to unnatural causes, specifically related to violence, had increased especially among the youth. South Africa is now moving towards the same transition that is currently experienced by developed nations in the world: violent deaths as a major cause of death amongst the youth (Norman, et al, 2007). With this in mind, this paper aims to examine the different levels of male and female adolescent mortality due to 5 unnatural causes of death. Data from the South African death registry is analysed for the years 2006- 2009. Cause-specific mortality rates, proportional mortality ratios and life table techniques are used. Results show adolescent females are dying from ‘events of undetermined intent’, ‘transport accidents’ and ‘self- harm’ causes more than males. The selected causes of death are contributing up to 27% of all adolescent male mortality and almost 12% of all female mortality in 2009. Finally years of potential life lost due to ‘assault’ are increasing among females.

This study aimed to investigate the progress in gender differential in child mortality in
India and factors explaining it. Based on the analyses of three rounds of National Family
Health Survey data the findings suggest that there is a positive change in the scenario of
child mortality from 1992 to 2006 where, though, largely female child is at higher risk but
there is a decline in the risk. The decomposition analyses suggest that demographic
variables such as breastfeeding, birth order, antenatal care and mother’s age emerged as
critical contributors for excess female child mortality compared to socioeconomic
variables. Overall, the results foster that the gender discrimination is mainly operating
through provision of breastfeeding and negligence of higher order female births. The study
also foster that discrimination of higher order female birth mainly operates in terms of
health care provisions and allocation of intra-household resources.

If the omission/misreporting of ages of male/female children is assumed to be equal, child sex ratio is the result of sex ratio at birth and sex differential in mortality. This study aims to understand the impact of both the sex ratio at birth and sex differential in mortality on the change in child sex ratio during 2001-2011 in India and its major states. The result shows that in 2011, at the national level, the skewed child sex ratio could be explained due to distortion in sex ratio at birth by two-thirds and in high female child mortality by about one-third. Whereas, in 2001, the contribution of sex ratio at birth was two-fifths and the contribution of high female child mortality was three-fifths towards determining the child sex ratio.