Chart 3. Child Mortality Rate for Boys and Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries,
1988-98 * (per 1,000)

Explore the Chart 3 Exercises With Answers

1. Study Chart 3 and answer the following questions:

1. In which region do boys and girls have the greatest chance of living beyond their fifth birthday? [East Asia & the Pacific]
2. In which region do they have the greatest chance of dying before their fifth birthday? [Sub-Saharan Africa]
3. Go to the Map Gallery and compare these two regions on the Life Expectancy, Population Growth Rate, GNP per Capita, and Access to Safe Water maps. In what ways are they similar or different? [In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly all the countries have a Life Expectancy under 64 years, but most of the East Asia & Pacific has a Life Expectancy over 65 years; in Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly all of the countries have a Population Growth Rate of 2% or higher, but most of East Asia & Pacific, the Population Growth Rate is under 2%; both Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia & the Pacific most countries are low income; in most Sub-Saharan African countries, less than 50% of the population has Access to Safe Water, while in a substantial portion of East Asia & the Pacific, more than 70% of the population has Access to Safe Water.]
4. What do these comparisons suggest about the links between child mortality and these other indicators? [While GNP per capita can have a strong influence on mortality and life expectancy, child mortality is also closely related to whether families have safe water to drink and how many children families have.]
5. Based on your reading of the text and your own knowledge, what might be other reasons for the differences in child mortality in these two regions? [Sub-Saharan Africa has a much higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS than East Asia & the Pacific; not only are young children being orphaned, but many are also infected with the virus. In addition, one would want to look at other indicators such as literacy rates, girls education rates, access to health care, and immunization rates.]

2. Look at the table below and then answer the questions.

COUNTRIES AND GNP PER CAPITA (HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW)	LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH (1998)	CHILD MORTALITY RATE PER 1000 LIVE BIRTHS (1988-1998)		ADULT MORTALITY RATE PER 1000 LIVE BIRTHS (1998)
		MALES	FEMALES	MALES	FEMALES
Côte d'Ivoire (L)	46	71	58	526	513
Jordan (M)	71	4	7	158	119
Mexico (M)	72	15	17	165	84
Pakistan (L)	62	22	37	172	152
Philippines (M)	69	21	19	197	149
Romania (M)	69	7	5	256	122
Trinidad and Tobago (M)	73	4	3	161	101

1. In which country(s) do female children (age 1 to 5) survive at a higher rate than males? [Côte d'Ivoire, Philippines, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago]
2. In which country(s) do adult (defined as age 15 to 60) females survive at a higher rate than adult males? [All countries in the table]
3. What does the text suggest may be a reason for why female children do not survive at a higher rate in some countries? [In cultures that have preference for male children, girls may not receive as much food or health care-including immunizations--as their brothers.]

* Data unavailable for Middle East and North Africa region.

Explore the Chart 3 Exercise: Print version without answers | Work on line

Home | Site Guide | Modules |What's SD? | SD Post | Resources | About DEP