Skills for Study 1 - Essay Example

One of the social factors contributing to low health expectancy is the level of poverty. In developing countries, the general level of income is very low. Consequently, such people cannot buy adequate healthy food. Furthermore, such people cannot avail the facilities of clinics or doctors as they are unable to afford it, which leads to high levels of mortality. Sometimes, health facilities are located in places far away from poverty-stricken areas, thus making it even more difficult for poor people to reach them in time (Caldwell et al 1990).

Another social factor is insufficient education of parents. It is observed that health expectancy is high when the previous generation has been educated, especially mothers. Mothers are the biggest role models for their children, especially in developing countries where mothers usually stay at home while fathers go out to work. Literate mothers are more responsible when it comes to their and their children’s health. However, illiterate mothers lack knowledge of which foods are healthy, what kind of water to drink, which habits are hygienic and similar aspects of a healthy life.

Due to this, their children eat anything which ‘appears’ to be edible, drink non-mineral (and thus harmful) water and develop unhygienic activities such as urinating in rivers from where water is used for drinking or cooking. These unhealthy habits cause them to develop life-threatening diseases or such, which in turn lowers the health expectancy in those areas. This factor of low levels of literacy can also be a cultural issue for those people in developing countries that condemn women from getting an education, as they believe that such practices are only meant for boys (Caldwell et al 1990).

In many developing countries, there are certain cultures that prefer the birth of boys rather than girls. People with such beliefs dispose of female