March 26, 2008
The weaker sex - updated
In an earlier post we noted that some health conditions affect males more than females. For example, males are more likely to have developmental disorders such as autism and dyslexia.
A new study reports that although boys continue to have a higher infant mortality rate than girls the gap is shrinking.
30 years ago boys had a 30% higher risk of dying by age 1 than girls. Today it is about 20%.
In the past three decades, the gap has closed a bit, with boys this decade having roughly a 20 percent higher chance of death by age 1 than girls, according to Eileen Crimmins of the University of Southern California, one of the researchers.
The article continues by saying that while while adult males engage in more risk taking behaviors the causes of infant mortality rates are mostly biological.
Boys are 60 percent more likely than girls to be born prematurely and to have conditions tied to pre-term birth such as neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, a condition that makes it difficult for a baby to breathe, the researchers said. This syndrome can occur in infants whose lungs have not yet fully developed.
Infant boys also face a higher risk of birth injury and mortality due to their larger body and head size, they said.
The complete study can be found at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.