Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · May 1993
Demographic variables in fetal and child mortality: Hmong in Thailand.
Conventional theories would not predict the 60% decline of infant mortality which has occurred among the Hmong population of Thailand, from 123/1000 in the mid-1960s to 48 in the mid-1980s. The Hmong population in northern Thailand has sustained high fertility and low use of modern health services. Most Hmong live in relatively remote rural villages and earn their living by self-employed farming. ⋯ Sex-specific mortality rates calculated from reproductive histories show no surplus of female deaths in the past, but females have benefitted more from recent mortality declines than males. Ethnographic evidence suggests that Hmong have customs which act to protect the health of mother and child ('chicken soup theory'), and that they are predisposed to accept innovations (including use of modern medicine) which they see as beneficial. This may allow them to respond especially quickly to small opportunities for improving their children's survival, as compared with other ethnic groups.