Sex Differentials in Mortality in Rural Bangladesh

This study provides conclusive documentation of higher female than male mortality from shortly after birth through the childbearing ages in a rural area of Bangladesh. The higher male mortality rates during the neonatal period are consistent with reports from developed countries; but whereas in developed countries this higher male mortality risk continues through childhood and adolescence the differential is reversed during the post-neonatal period in Bangladesh with female mortality exceeding that of males by as much as 50 percent. Son preference in parental care and feeding patterns food distribution and treatment of illness favoring male children are possible causes of such aberrant childhood mortality differences by sex. (SUMMARY IN FRE SPA)