From birth to very old age, the death rate of males exceeds the death rate of females. Even if an individual is genetically female, certain hormones must be released at critical periods of pregnancy for female sex characteristics to develop. If these critical periods are missed, the baby will not develop all the secondary sex characteristics of a female. Birth 108 - 100 Pregnancy is a big demand on the body and about 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Although the medical reasons are not known, a woman is more likely to have a miscarriage with a boy baby than with a girl baby.
Boys also are more likely to fight in wars.
Therefore, young men die from accidents, suicide, homicide, and other injuries at a higher rate than young women. Stereotypically, men often think of themselves are tough, able to deal with stressors on their own, and believe they will get over illnesses on their own. Intervening Psychological Factors Life threatening situations are sources of stress for everyone but there are many stressors in everyday life that are not real threats to life and survival. An example of one such study compared diets of women and men for animal fats, cholesterol and other foods thought to clog arteries. The results showed no differences between men's and women's diets, but the men had more heart problems.