A Study on Gender Bias among Parents of Under Five in Urban Field Practice Area of SSIMS and RC, Davangere Kumar Ravi1,*, Kumar Aswin2, Rao B A Varadaraja3, Ayesha SN4 1Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, MRMC, Kalaburgi 2Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, SSIMS&RC, Davangere 3Professor, Department of Community Medicine, SSIMS&RC, Davangere 4Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, SSIMS&RC, Davangere *Corresponding author: Dr. Ravikumar Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, M R Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka Mobile numbers: 08971037433, E-mail: raviskurle@gmail.com
Online published on 18 July, 2017. Abstract Background Gender discrimination against females mainly seen in provision of health care, nutrition, immunization and education by the parents. In the view preventing the endless vicious cycle of discrimination and bias, we tend to know the magnitude of same in our setting. Objectives 1. To access the magnitude of gender bias among parents of under five in urban field practice area of SSIMS&RC, Davangere. 2. To access the factors influencing the gender bias among same subjects. Material and method A cross-sectional study was done in urban field practice area of SSIMS&RC, Davangere for a period of 3months. Around 600 parents were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire. Parents were selected using systematic random samping. Data was entered in MS Excel sheet. Percentages were calculated for descriptive statistics. Chi-square test of significance was employed using SPSS 16.0. For factors influencing gender bias multiple logistic regression was done. Results About 68.7% of children had preference for male child. Male child was given more preference in terms of food (86.6%), education (86.3%), immunization (66%) and health care (72%). Prenatal sex determination was seen in 38% of subjects. Fathers education, family type and socioeconomic factors were found to be associated with male child preference using multivariate analysis. Conclusion Majority (68.7%) of study participants had a preference for male child in the community. In spite of Pre Natal Diagnostic Testing Act in vogue the study showed 38% had a prenatal sex determination. Socio economic factors like father's education, family type, and socio-economic status were found to influence the preference for male child. Top Keywords Gender bias, Prenatal sex determination, factors influencing. Top |