That Health Rules

Chinese tradition calls it that the first born be a boy…. however recent studies have shown that cultures that favour male babies may result in a surplus of men. It is theorized that once this happens these men will struggle to find sexual partners and could find themselves marginalised in society based on t he findings of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by the University College London.

The social impact is intriguing and let me quote what the paper emphasized as the possible implication of this practice:

“As more men discover their lack of marriage prospects, this could lead to antisocial behaviour, violence and possibly more opportunities for organised crime and terrorism, threatening the stability and security of many societies.”

Likewise as quoted from Dr Therese Hesketh, of the UCL Institute of Child Health:

“The ratio of men to women in most populations is remarkably constant if left untouched. The tradition of son preference, however, has distorted these natural sex ratios in large parts of Asia and North Africa. Sex-selective abortion and discrimination in care practices for girls have led to higher female mortality. Although health care for women is generally improving, these advances have been offset by a huge increase in the use of sex-selective abortion, and there are now an estimated 80 million missing females in India and China alone.”

“Over the next 20 years, in parts of China and India there will be a 12 to 15 per cent excess of young men. These men will remain single and will be unable to have families, in societies where marriage is regarded as virtually universal and social status and acceptance depend, in large part, on being married and creating a new family.”

“This trend could lead to increased levels of antisocial behaviour and violence, as gender is a well-established correlate of crime, and especially violent crime. Gender-related violent crime is consistent across cultures. Furthermore, when single young men congregate, the potential for more organised aggression is likely to increase substantially, and this has worrying implications for organised crime and terrorism.”

The above scenario is pretty worrisome indeed.  But apparently certain measures with regard to sex preference have been made in terms of educating the public with some progress. In a recent national survey, 37 per cent of Chinese women surveyed claimed to have no gender preference, and 45 per cent said the ideal family consisted of one boy and one girl. Almost equal numbers of the women expressed a preference for one girl as for one boy.

So there you go… to the newly married…No sex preference please….

Just for fun…let me do a quick survey… of  my friends and readers who are getting married or are going to have a baby… How many would prefer having a baby boy versus a baby girl?

A Baby Boy? Dream for A Healthy Baby Instead!

This entry was posted on September 6, 2006 at 8:36 am and is filed under Medical News Bits, Personal Thoughts.