title: Effect of gender preference on fertility: cross-sectional study among women of Tharu community from rural area of eastern region of Nepal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Son preference is predominant in developing countries especially South Asian countries and its effect is most visible when the fertility is on transition. Nepal is a country in South Asia where the fertility has declined and son is valued highly. This study examines the parent's gender preference for children and its effect on fertility and reproductive behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study was conducted in Sonapur village development committee of Sunsari district among women of Tharu community of reproductive age (15-49) currently in union and having at least one child. Data was collected by house to house survey. Data was analyzed with IBM SPSS 20 version. Multinomial and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the relationship among variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred women of reproductive age were included in the study. Current average age of the respondents was 31.97 years and mean age at marriage was 18.87 (SD +/-2.615). Child Sex ratio (male: female) of the respondents who didn't want any more children was 1.41. The birth spacing following male baby was 3.09 years whereas the average birth spacing following female baby was 2.71 years. Age of the respondents and education status of the respondents were also significantly associated with contraceptive practice. Presence of only female children in family significantly increased the desire of other children (AOR = 10.153, 95% CI = 2.357-43.732).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study finds that the gender preference affects the fertility and reproductive behavior of the respondents and it is necessary to reduce son preference for the health and well being of children and women.
authors: School of Public Health and Community medicine, B, P, Koirala institute of health sciences, Dharan, Sunsari, Nepal. pramilarai17@hotmail.com.
authors: Pramila
authors: P
authors: Rai
authors: Ishwari Sharma
authors: IS
authors: Paudel
authors: Anup
authors: A
authors: Ghimire
authors: Paras Kumar
authors: PK
authors: Pokharel
authors: Raju
authors: R
authors: Rijal
authors: Surya Raj
authors: SR
authors: Niraula
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001721:Birth Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D012744:Sex Ratio; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors