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GENDER DIFFERENCE IN DAILY TIME AND SPACE USE AMONG BANGLADESHI VILLAGERS UNDER ARSENIC HAZARD: APPLICATION OF THE COMPACT SPOT-CHECK METHOD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2004

RYUTARO OHTSUKA
Affiliation:
Department of Human Ecology, School of International Health, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113–0033, Japan
NORIKO SUDO
Affiliation:
Department of Health Promotion and Research, National Institute of Public Health, Japan
MAKIKO SEKIYAMA
Affiliation:
Department of Human Ecology, School of International Health, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113–0033, Japan
CHIHO WATANABE
Affiliation:
Department of Human Ecology, School of International Health, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113–0033, Japan
TSUKASA INAOKA
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sociology, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Japan
TAKAFUMI KADONO
Affiliation:
Department of Dermatology, University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan

Abstract

The compact spot-check method was applied to elucidate the daily time and space use patterns of 121 adults from a Bangladeshi village in which the authors had previously found more skin manifestations due to arsenic poisoning in males than females. The analysis of 2178 spot-check data, which were obtained over a net period of 2 days, highlighted that farming and cash-earning activities were almost exclusively conducted by males. This is probably due to the Muslim Bangladeshi norm for females to be ‘sedentary’ in or around their own dwellings. Discussion focuses on the advantages of the compact spot-check method and the possibility that males’ larger energy expenditure and longer exposure to sunlight are responsible for their severer skin manifestations.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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