Maharashtra: Study finds boys get preference over girls
A study was conducted by the Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences on the differences in child-rearing practices based on the sex of the child among married women in the urban slums of Mumbai.
In all, 900 married women with 1,158 children below five years of age were part of the study. Of them, 42.4% women were from the age group 21-35 years.
Most women were Muslims. Only 12.7% women were illiterate while the majority (87.3%) were educated.
It was observed that, there was significant association between time of initiation of breast-feeding and sex of the child. The number of boys — 56.21% — having early initiation of breast-feeding is significantly more than girls.
Also, the timely initiation of complementary feeding is more in boys (64.5%) as compared to girls (35.49%).
There was also a significant association between immunisation status and sex of the child: 91.6% boys were completely immunised compared to girls (74.4%).
Besides, 81% of boys were taken to private clinics for treatment despite considerable higher costs at these facilities compared to 51.9% of girls.
“A preference for children of a particular sex may also affect the treatment of sons and daughters and even their chances of survival. Research studies suggest parents with strong son preference consider their daughters to be less valuable and provide inferior care to daughters in terms of food allocation, prevention of diseases and accidents and treatment of sick children,” the study states.
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