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24/05/2004
Research highlights Indian illiteracy danger
Parental illiteracy, and especially maternal illiteracy, is a potential killer of young girls in India, according to research by a University of Ulster academic.
Research by Vani Borooah, Professor of Applied Economics at the University's Jordanstown campus, found that young girls were five times less likely than boys to receive immunisation against disease or to have a nutritious diet if their mothers were illiterate.
Using official statistics for over 4,000 children between the ages of one and two in 16 Indian states, the study compared girls' likelihood of receiving relevant vaccination for tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and measles between the ages of one and two years compared to boys.
It also examined if they received a nutritious diet - given milk, cereals, pulses and vegetables or fruit in the two days prior to the survey.
The research, published in the prestigious journal Social Science and Medicine, showed that the proportion of children - boys and girls - who were both fully vaccinated and receiving a nutritious diet was higher when their mothers were literate than when they were not.
Differences between boys and girls only seemed to apply when their mothers were illiterate.
Levels of vaccination varied enormously by caste and religion - with many more Hindus than Muslims or Dalits having their children fully vaccinated. The last two groups also included a gender bias against girls in vaccinations.
Professor Borooah said that many children suffer serious levels of welfare neglect in India and girls were less likely than boys to be vaccinated and properly fed.
But he said that both girls and boys suffer deprivation - and that is directly linked to religion, levels of literacy and the unequal distribution of wealth. Children in the richest regions were more likely to be vaccinated and well fed than those in the poorest regions.
(MB)
Research by Vani Borooah, Professor of Applied Economics at the University's Jordanstown campus, found that young girls were five times less likely than boys to receive immunisation against disease or to have a nutritious diet if their mothers were illiterate.
Using official statistics for over 4,000 children between the ages of one and two in 16 Indian states, the study compared girls' likelihood of receiving relevant vaccination for tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and measles between the ages of one and two years compared to boys.
It also examined if they received a nutritious diet - given milk, cereals, pulses and vegetables or fruit in the two days prior to the survey.
The research, published in the prestigious journal Social Science and Medicine, showed that the proportion of children - boys and girls - who were both fully vaccinated and receiving a nutritious diet was higher when their mothers were literate than when they were not.
Differences between boys and girls only seemed to apply when their mothers were illiterate.
Levels of vaccination varied enormously by caste and religion - with many more Hindus than Muslims or Dalits having their children fully vaccinated. The last two groups also included a gender bias against girls in vaccinations.
Professor Borooah said that many children suffer serious levels of welfare neglect in India and girls were less likely than boys to be vaccinated and properly fed.
But he said that both girls and boys suffer deprivation - and that is directly linked to religion, levels of literacy and the unequal distribution of wealth. Children in the richest regions were more likely to be vaccinated and well fed than those in the poorest regions.
(MB)
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