Abstract

MENDEZ GONZALEZ, Rosa María; GARCIA DE FUENTES, Ana  and  CERVERA MONTEJANO, María Dolores. Infant mortality and deprivation in the Yucatan Peninsula. Invest. Geog [online]. 2004, n.54, pp.140-163. ISSN 2448-7279.

We present results from a study oriented to investigate socio spatial distribution of infant mortality and its relationships with social deprivation in the Yucatan Peninsula from 1990 to 2000. The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) was calculated for each municipality and state. Deprivation indexes and strata of the Consejo Nacional de Poblacion were also used. First, we applied cartographic analyses to infant mortality and deprivation data separately and after, we integrated both indexes. Results showed that in spite of a sistematic reduction we observed in the IMR within the national and state levels, this diminish has not been homogeneous for the states neither for the municipalities. Whereas the national means are considered as reference values, we noticed that infant mortality became more deteriorated in Yucatan Peninsula during the studied period because of an increase in the proportion of municipalities with high IMR. As well as the number of municipalities with high social deprivation increased. The heterogeneous spatial distribution of the combination of indexes could reflect the deterioration of living conditions by-product of some processes of regional development.

Keywords : Infant mortality; social deprivation; changes 1990-2000; regional development.