[quote=“Dragonbones”]I just ran across an interesting, somewhat related statistic:
[quote]one in eight newborn babies in Taiwan is now the product of a cross-border marriage[/quote][/quote]And those babies are turning out fine, it is the environment -more acceptance, more integration- that can improve their lives:
Parent’s inferior status contributes to children’s poorer health
2007-11-09 21:34:29
Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Children born to foreign wives of Taiwanese men are less healthy than children born to local women because of the inferior social and economic status of their parents, according a survey released Friday.
The survey, conducted by Dr. Chiang Tung-liang, director of the Institute of Health Policy and Management at National Taiwan University in Taipei, also found that, at birth, children born to foreign wives are healthier than those born by local women, which may surprise many people.
According to Chiang's survey, released at a seminar organized by a local medical association, the percentage of infants born prematurely is 8.6 percent among local women, compared to 7.0 percent among those born to foreign wives.
In terms of birth weight, 7.1 percent of those born to local mothers weigh less than 2500 grams, compared to 5.2 percent of infants born to foreign wives.
Judging by these facts, Chiang said, children born to foreign wives of local men are healthier than children born to local women.
However, tests of these children when they were six-months old found that 41 percent of the children born to local woman were able to smile, turn around by themselves, pass an object from one hand to another and so on, versus 37.5 percent of children born to foreign wives.
Compared with their local counterparts, foreign women are more likely to marry unemployed Taiwanese men, to give birth at an earlier age, live in remote areas, receive less schooling, and earn less income, Chiang said, adding that their inferior social and economic status explains their children's poorer health after birth.
Chiang urged the government to address these problems by providing social and economic aid to these foreign wives in addition to providing them and their children with better medical care.
The survey of 21,248 infants was conducted at birth, in 2005, and again when they were six-months old.
Among them, 13.3 percent were born to foreign mothers, of which two-thirds originated from Southeast Asia, while one-third were from China, Chiang went on.