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Abstract
In a multivariate analysis of data from the 1980 Egyptian Fertility Survey, post-neonatal mortality was found to be 12% higher and second-year mortality 60% higher for females than for males. The sex differential varied little by region, socio-economic status, demographic variables or sex composition of older siblings.
The Mosley-Chen framework for the study of child survival was used to explore immediate causes of the mortality differentials. The 1978 Egyptian National Nutrition Survey data were analysed. Girls' nutritional status was significantly lower than that of boys at ages up to 30 months, the relevant age group for most post-neonatal mortality. Girls' lower nutritional status during weaning was attributed to their receiving supplementation of breastmilk slightly later and less adequately than boys. Breastfeeding duration was significantly shorter for girls than boys but the differential first appeared at 18 months duration and was not found to affect sex differentials in nutritional status. Succeeding birth interval length was found to be shorter after a female than a male birth.
Incidence of diarrheal disease, the major cause of post-neonatal childhood mortality in Egypt, was found to be higher amongst boys than girls. The higher case fatality rate for girls was attributed to their lower nutritional status and to the fact that girls were less likely than boys to receive treatment if they became ill.
Various explanations for parental preferences for the sex of children, and hence sex differentials in child mortality, were discussed with reference to Egypt. It was concluded that parental son preference, and excess female child mortality, were not due to parental calculations of the economic or old-age security value of children. Evidence was found that Egyptian women are socialized into the belief that social status and marital security depend on the birth and survival of male children and that males should be given preferential treatment.
The dissertation includes literature reviews of regional variations in sex differentials in infant and child mortality and in parental preferences for the sex of children.
