Abstract

PIP: The sex ratio at birth was examined within a population of 68 out of 75 villages in the PHC Malaud, Ludhiana district, Punjab state, India, during 1988-89. Data was obtained from a female medical public health worker and cross checked by home visits and village registers. Observed sex ratios were compared to expected sex ratios of 105 males per 100 females, which were acceptable as a standard by Ramachandra and Deshpande's analysis of hospital births in India in 1964 and other developing and developed countries. Findings showed that the secondary sex ratio at birth was 118.21 in 1988 and 116.68 in 1989. The standard error of proportion (SEP) between the observed and expected was 1.02 in 1988 and 1.01 in 1989. Pooled hospital data on the sex, sex ratio, and SEP of live births was provided for the annual period of 1981-88; the sex ratio in 1988 was 121.80 and the SEP was 0.58. Pooled community data was also presented for the period 1984-88; the sex ratio was 119.20 in 1988 and the SEP was 1.43.. The evidence strongly suggested from the three different sample populations that sex selection and imbalanced sex ratios was a matter of great concern.