Majumder, Abul Kashem
Description
Using the 1975-76 Bangladesh Fertility Survey d a ta and employing logit linear
model analysis, this study examines first the effects of the three widely discussed
demographic factors (maternal age at birth, birth order and preceding birth interval) on
infant and child mortality in Bangladesh. It then examines how social factors,
particularly mother’s education, could relate to child survival through the three so-called
proximate determinants: mother’s age at birth, parity and birth...[Show more] interval in the
framework for the analysis of child survival in developing countries suggested by Mosley
and Chen (1984). The intra-family mortality relationship, th a t is, the influence of the
survival sta tu s of the immediately preceding sibling(/s) on the mortality risk of the child
in question is also investigated. The study also examines the effects of duration of
breastfeeding together with the effects of birth intervals (both preceding and following)
on the risk of dying at different stages of early life.
Multivariate analyses reveal th a t both infant and child mortality risks are higher if
the mother is under 20 years of age. The birth order of the child shows a positive relation
with the risk of dying between ages one and Five years but higher mortality risks a t the
extreme birth orders are observed during the period of infancy. Children born with a
preceding birth interval duration of one-and-a-half years or less have considerably higher
risks of dying in infancy as well as at ages between one and five years. A considerably
higher risk of dying between the first and fifth years of life is also observed among
children followed by another birth within one-and-a-half years. The analyses show th a t
both infant and child mortality risks are significantly higher among mothers with no
education than among mothers with some primary education. The b etter survival chance
of children whose mothers had some education has resulted neither through maternal age
a t birth nor the interval between successive births, but because the mothers had fewer
births. This study also shows th a t the survival sta tu s of a child at age one year is one of
the most important factors influencing the survival sta tu s of its next sibling. However,
the preceding child’s survival has different roles during the period of infancy and at ages
beyond infancy. The group of children with the immediately preceding sibling dead by
age one year has a significantly higher risk of dying in infancy than the group with the
preceding sibling alive. On the other hand, at ages between one and five years, children
with the preceding sibling dead have a significantly lower risk than children with the
preceding sibling alive. The same p a ttern has been found when the analysis has been
extended to the survival sta tu s of the two immediately preceding siblings. While
inadequate biological or reproductive conditions of the mother might explain the former
result, the la tte r result is likely to relate to competition for family resources.
The study further shows th a t the sex of the immediately preceding sibling is a
significant factor influencing child mortality. The group of children preceded by a male
sibling has a considerably higher risk of dying between the first and the fifth years of life
th an the group preceded by a female sibling. This result is also likely to be related to
competition*, the child in question faces harder competition from a preceding brother than
from a preceding sister. Given the role of young girls in the society, it is also likely th a t a
child is more likely to be cared for by its immediately preceding sister than by its
immediately preceding brother. Based on the sample of last and next-to-last live births, the analysis of breastfeeding
establishes it as one of the prime factors influencing mortality during the early months of
life. However, no support for the hypothesis th a t breastfeeding is the intermediate factor
through which preceding birth or subsequent pregnancy influences child survival can be
obtained from the d ata. The analyses suggest th a t preceding birth interval, timing of the
next conception and breastfeeding duration each influences mortality in its own way, but
their relative importance as determinants of mortality varies with the age of the child.
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