Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:29:55.010Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SKEWED SEX RATIO AT BIRTH IN INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2009

SWAPAN SETH
SWAPAN SETH
Affiliation:
Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Scientists commonly use world average data on sex ratio at birth for India for want of dependable ones. Here an attempt is made to redress the problem to some extent. It is shown that this ratio has been high in India since the 1950s. The ratio has been strikingly high, even prior to the time of inception of prenatal sex identification technologies. The ratio shows a rising trend due to several biological reasons. In addition, it has been rising sharply for a couple of decades due to some socio-medical factors. The natural sex ratio at birth in India is noticeably higher than the world average.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 83 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agnihotri, S. B. (2000) Sex Ratio Pattern in the Indian Population. Sage, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Barua, S. (1989) Effects of ABO blood group in incompatible matings on certain demographic variables in a sample of Muslim population of 24-Parganas, West Bengal. In Singh, K. S. (ed.) (1989) Genetical Demography of Indian Population. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 59–65.Google Scholar
Bhat, P. (2002) On the trial of ‘missing’ Indian women. Economic Political Weekly 37(51), 5105–5118 and 37(52), 5244–5263.Google Scholar
Bhattacharyya, S. (1991) A study on some aspects of child birth. Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society 26(3), 287–291.Google Scholar
Bhattachryya, S. & Bhattachryya, K. (1990) Waiting time, infant mortality and reproduction wastage in consanguinity. Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 39(1), 76–83.Google Scholar
Bhattacharyya, S., Dutta, P. & Bhattacharyya, S. (1985) The migrant Oraon in the Andaman islands: Some demographic aspects. Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society 20(1), 86–92.Google Scholar
Bhaumik, S., Ghosh, S., Halder, K., Mitra, P. & Manna, B. (2000) Risk of early onset neonatal septicemia in babies born to mothers with pre-eclampsia. Indian Pediatrics 37(7), 775–779.Google ScholarPubMed
Bottini, N., Megrini, A., Cosmi, E., Gloria-Bottini, F., Saccucci, P., Joro, R., Bargamaschi, A. & Bottini, E. (2004) Genetic of signal transduction and the effect of maternal smoking on sex ratio of offspring. Human Biology 16(5), 588–592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catalan, J., Frank, G. & Norppa, H. (2000) The X-chromosome frequency lags behind in female lymphocite anaphase. American Journal of Human Genetics 66(2), 687–691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (2008) National Health Profile 2007. Director General of Health Services, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Chahnazarian, A. (1988) Determinants of sex ratio at birth. Social Biology 35(3&4), 214–235.Google ScholarPubMed
Chatterjee, A. & Basu, G. (2000) Management of severe hypertensions in pregnancy. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India 50(5), 111–115.Google Scholar
Coale, A. J. & Banister, J. (1994) Five decades of missing females in China. Demography 31(3), 459–479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Das, L., Satapathy, U. & Panda, N. (2005) Perinatal mortality in a referral hospital of Orissa – a 10 year review. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India 55(6), 517–520.Google Scholar
Das, R. & Chatterjee, S. (1975) CFS studies in eclampsia. Journal of the Association of Medical Women in India XLXXV(3), 100–105.Google Scholar
Das Gupta, A. et al. (1955) Couple Fertility. India Department of Economic Affairs, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Das Gupta, M. & Bhat, P. (1997) Fertility decline and increased manifestation of sex bias in India. Population Studies 51, 307–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, K. & van den Oever, P. (1986) Demographic foundations of new sex roles. In Mahadevan, K. (ed.) Fertility and Mortality. Sage, New Delhi, pp. 13–29.Google Scholar
Davis, D., Gottlieb, M. & Stampnitzky, J. (1998) Reduced ratio of male to female births in several industrial countries: A sentinel health indicator? Journal of American Medical Association 279(13), 1018–1023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dreze, J. & Sen, A. (1995) India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Dubuc, S. & Coleman, D. (2007) An increase in the sex ratio at births to Indian born mothers in England and Wales: Evidence for sex selective abortion. Population and Development Review 33(2), 383–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, L. (1989) Fertility and opportunity of natural selection among the Maheswaris. In Singh, K. S. (ed.) Genetical Demography of Indian Population. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 72–81.Google Scholar
Graffelman, J. & Hoekstra, R. (2000) A statistical analysis of the effect of warfare on the human secondary sex ratio. Human Biology 72(3), 433–445.Google Scholar
Gruenwald, P. (1969) Stillbirth and early neonatal death. In Butler, N. & Alberman, R. (eds) Perinatal Problems. E&S Livingstone, Edinburgh & London, pp. 163–183.Google Scholar
Gulati, R. & Sirajuddin, S. (1989) Demographic background of mental patients. In Singh, K. S. (ed.) Genetical Demography of Indian Population. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 143–147.Google Scholar
Guttentag, M. & Secrod, P. (1983) Too Many Women? Sage, Beverly Hills.Google Scholar
Gutierreze-Adan, A., Pinato, B. & de la Fuente, J. (2000) Demographic and behavioural aspects of the reduction of male to female birth ratio in Spain from 1981–1997. Human Biology 72(5), 891–898.Google Scholar
Halder, A. (2006) Skewed sex ratio in India. Indian Journal of Medical Research 124, 583–584.Google ScholarPubMed
Halder, A. & Fouzdar, A. (2006) Skewed sex ratio & low aneuploidy in recurrent early missed abortion. Indian Journal of Medical Research 124(1), 41–50.Google ScholarPubMed
Hudson, V. & den Boer, A. (2004) Bare Branches: Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA & London.Google Scholar
Hytten, F. (1982) Boys and girls. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 89(2), 97–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IIPS (2007) National Family Health Survey 2005–06, vol. 1. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.Google Scholar
James, W. H. (1985) The sex ratio of oriental births. Annals of Human Biology 12(2), 485–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (1987) The human sex ratio. Part I: A review of literature. Human Biology 59(5), 721–752.Google Scholar
James, W. H. (2006) Possible constraints on adaptive variation in sex ratio at birth in humans and other primates. Journal of Theoretical Biology 238(2), 383–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (2008) Further support for the hypothesis that parental hormone levels around the time of conception are associated with human sex ratio at birth. Journal of Biosocial Science 40(6), 855–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Junhong, C. (2001) Prenatal sex determination and sex selective abortion in rural China. Population and Development Review 27(2), 259–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karnataka Bureau of Economics and Statistics (1976) Report on Sample Registration System in Karnataka. Bangalore.Google Scholar
Klasen, S. (1994) ‘Missing females’ reconsidered. World Development 22, 1060–1071.Google Scholar
Klasen, S. (2009) Missing women: Some controversies on levels and trends in gender bias in mortality. In Basu, K. & Kanbur, R. (eds) Arguments for a Better World, vol. 2, Essays in Honour of Amartya Sen. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 280–299.Google Scholar
Klasen, S. & Wink, C. (2002) A turning point in gender bias in mortality? An update on the number of missing women. Population and Development Review 28(2), 285–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulkarni, V. & Kulkarni, S. (2000) Maternal health and low birth weight. Journal of Indian Anthropological Society 35(2), 185–195.Google Scholar
Kumm, J., Laland, K. & Feldman, M. (1994) Gene-culture co-evolution and sex ratios: the effects of infanticide, sex selective abortion, sex selection and sex-biased parental investment on the evolution of sex ratios. Theoretical Population Biology 46(3), 249–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, M-J. & Luoh, M-C. (2008) Can hepatitis B mothers account for the number of missing women? Evidence from 3 million newborns in Taiwan. American Economic Review 98(5), 2259–2273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malaker, C. R. & Guha Roy, S. (1990) Reconstruction of Indian life tables for 1901–1981 and projections for 1981–2001. Sankhya Indian Journal of Statistics B52(3), 271–276.Google Scholar
Manning, J., Anderton, R. & Shutt, M. (1997) Parental age gap skews child sex ratio. Nature 389, 344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mishra, V., Retherford, R. & Smith, K. (1999) Biomass cooking fuels and prevalence of tuberculosis in India. International Journal of Infectious Diseases 3, 111–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nanavati, M. & Patel, D. (1978) Eclampsia: Twenty years review. Journal of the Association of Medical Women in India LXXIII(3&4), 46–49.Google Scholar
Nanda, A. R. (1993) Final Population Totals – Brief Analysis of Primary Census Abstract. Census of India 1991, paper 2 of 1992, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Nayak, A. & Dalal, A. (1993) A review of stillbirths. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India 43(2), 225–229.Google Scholar
NIPCCD (2007) Statistics on Women in India. National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, New Delhi.Google Scholar
ORGI (1972) Sex Composition in India. SRS Analytical Series No. 4. India Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.Google Scholar
ORGI (relevant years)Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007. ORGI, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Oster, E. (2005) Hepatitis B and the case of missing women. Journal of Political Economy 113(6), 1163–1217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pakrasi, K. & Halder, A. (1971) Sex ratios and sequences of births in India. Journal of Biosocial Science 3(4), 377–387.Google ScholarPubMed
Parikh, J. & Laxmi, V. (2000) Biofuels, pollution and health linkage: A survey of rural Tamil Nadu. Economic and Political Weekly 35(47), 4125–4137.Google Scholar
Premi, M. (2001) Missing girl child. Economic and Political Weekly 36(21), 1875–1880.Google Scholar
Ramamma, K. & Mukherjee, D. (1977) Pregnancy and birth weight around Tirupati with special reference to maternal age and seasonal variation. Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society 12(3), 227–246.Google Scholar
Rao, P. (1984) Inbreeding in India: concepts and consequences. In Lukacs, J. R. (ed.) People of South Asia. Plenum Press, New York & London, pp. 239–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rehan, N-E. (1982) Sex ratio of live born Hasua infants. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 89(2), 136–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, A. (1972) Gravitational separations of X and Y spermatozoa. Nature 238(5361), 223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sahu, P. & Dhar, P. (1989) Genetic demography of the Kunbis of Nagpur district. In Singh, K. S. (ed.) Genetical Demography of Indian Population. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 82–88.Google Scholar
Sarkar, J. M. (1989) Some demographic traits of Bhils and Garasia. In Singh, K. S. (ed.) Genetical Demography of Indian Population. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 31–40.Google Scholar
Sen, A. (1990) More than 100 million women are missing. New York Review of Books 37(20), 20th December. URL: http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/gender/Sen100M.html.Google Scholar
Sen, A. (1992) Missing women. British Medical Journal 304(6827), 587–588.Google ScholarPubMed
Sen, A. (2003) Missing women – revisited. British Medical Journal 327, 1297–1298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seth, S. (2004) Note on added years. Economic and Political Weekly 39(19), 1938–1939.Google Scholar
Seth, S. (2007) Sex selective feticide in India. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 24(5), 153–154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seth, S. (2008) Prenatal sex detection in the perspective of skewed sex ratio. International Journal of Anthropology 23(1&2), 61–73.Google Scholar
Sinha, D. (1973) Uttar Pradesh: A Portrait of Population. Census of India 1971, Series 21. Controller of Publications, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Smith, K. (2000) National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 97(24), 13286–13293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srivastava, A., Choudhury, A., Sankhyan, A. & Sahay, B. (1995) Genetic demography of the Jaunsaris: A polyandrous tribe. Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India 44(1&2), 1–57.Google Scholar
Sudha, S. & Rajan, S. (1999) Female demographic disadvantage in India 1981–1991: sex selective abortions and female feticide. Development and Change 30(3), 585–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sule, S. & Madugu, H. (2004) Sex ratio at birth in Zaria, Nigeria. Annals of Human Biology 31(2), 258–262.Google ScholarPubMed
Technical Group on Population Projection (1996) Population Projections for India and States for 1996–2016. Census of India 1991. ORGI, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Upadhay, S. (1975) Obstetrics problems in rural India. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of India 25(10), 135–139.Google Scholar
Vear, C. (1978) Preselective sex determination. Journal of the Association of Medical Women in India LXVIII(3), 112–116.Google Scholar
Visaria, P. (1971) Sex Ratio of Population of India. Monograph No. 10, Census of India 1961. Manager of Publications, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Waldron, I. (1998) Factors determining the sex ratio at birth. In UNDESA (ed.) Too Young to Die. UNDESA, New York, pp. 53–63.Google Scholar
WBSBHI (relevant years)Report on Model and Ideal Health Registration Units. West Bengal State Bureau of Health Intelligence, Government of West Bengal, Calcutta. Mimeographed. Title varies.Google Scholar
World Bank (2009) 2009 World Development Indicator. World Bank, Washington.Google Scholar