Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor
Great answer Lchoy, out of thanks 
I know as of 2009, 32% was the rate for Canada for infants, which is part of a steady decline.
I've seen numbers for EU as low as 5%, while the US, Africa and middle east have high numbers, USA way above every other western nation.
Which is why I'm a bit bothered by the US rates, considering these are not because of religious reasons, simply for aesthetics, which we would never do to a girls genitals, but yet we do it for boys. |
The US rate is higher, true:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwr...cid=mm6034a4_w
Seems the most recent numbers indicate somewhere around 50%-60% neonatal male circumcision rates, with possibly slight decrease in the last decade.
In Canada, while the latest number seems to be around around 32% nationally, it's as high as 44% in Alberta (the province with the highest rate of circumcision, and, probably not coincidentally, one of the most conservative provinces in the country):
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/rhs-ssg/pdf/tab-eng.pdf (page 267)
But if you look at page 268, they show a far more interesting break-down of reasons for why the male circumsicion was conducted. To look like dad came in only second, while for
health and hygiene came in 1st, at
44%. And the religious explanation for the circumcision was actually higher than I thought it would be.
If I could make a bit of a leap, and if the Canadian numbers reflect in any way reasons for why Americans might get it done (and they may not), circumcision for purely aesthetic reasons may not be the leading cause of having the operation done in the US. In fact, I would wager that, if the numbers were found, the hygiene excuse would still be #1 in the States, and the religious percentage would be even higher than it is in Canada. I also feel US conservatism probably has a role here somewhere, as well.