Gender differences in child health: evidence from the demographic and health surveys

Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys indicate that girls in many developing countries have higher mortality in childhood relative to boys than would be expected given the experience of European-origin populations at similar levels of mortality. This mortality disadvantage is particularly large between the ages of 1 and 5, and in the countries of the Middle East. Surprisingly, girls show no disadvantage for a number of health status indicators. They are reported to suffer less often from respiratory and diaorrheal infections, are less likely to be stunted or wasted, and are as likely as boys to be immunized. Only in use of health services do girls show lower rates than boys. Most of the health status indicators are uncorrelated with the female mortality disadvantage, though high immunization levels relative to boys are associated with low mortality disadvantages. The association with immunization remains significant even when educational differences are controlled. -Authors