Cause of death disparities among children and juvenile Mayas and Afro-descendants of Corozal, Belize, 1894-1934: micro-evolutional and socioeconomic explains

摘要

The goal is analyze the death probabilities of the five main cause of death of individuals of both sexes from birth until 14 years of Mayan Indians and black population of Corozal, Belize, border city with Mexico. The comparison between these two ethnical groups allow evaluating micro-evolutional histories of these, and establishing some explains of socioeconomic factors, which allow the human adaptation. Multiple Decrement Life Tables was performed to calculate death probabilities, with 2,168 deaths from 1894-1921 and 1922-1934. Principal results showed that digestive and infectious-epidemic and parasitic deaths have a similar pattern in age group of 1-4 years. Malnutrition and food poising have the higher death probabilities in both sexes and ethnical groups at birth. Black children have lower probabilities to death in digestive and malnutrition causes, but black girls have the higher probabilities to death in almost all causes. In spite of a long micro-evolutional history of the Mayan Indian population in the region, they have higher probabilities to death by infectious-epidemic and parasitic causes than black children. Socioeconomic explains under colonial rule of British Empire are the responses of these disparities.