The number of baby boys in the U.S. subjected to circumcisions declined in the last three decades, according to a government report released Thursday.
Circumcision is a surgical procedure to remove the skin covering the end of the penis, called the foreskin. In many cultures, this a religious ritual and is most common among Muslims and Jews. Approximately 65 percent of baby boys globally are subjected to this surgical procedure.
According to a recent report released by the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of circumcisions performed on newborn boys in the U.S. hospitals dropped by six percent over the last three decades.
The national rate declined to 58.3 percent in 2010 from 64.5 percent in 1979, according to the report. The final total excludes circumcisions performed in other places such as religious institutions and those performed later in life.
Circumcision rates fell in the 1980s but rose again in the 1990s. A decline in circumcision numbers was again observed in the 2000s. During the period covered by the data, male newborn circumcision was most common in 1981, at 64.9 percent, and least common in 2007, at 55.4 percent.
According to pediatrician Douglas Diekema of the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Children's Research Institute, this decline could be because of the decreased amount of time babies now spend in the hospital after being born.
"Often they're going home within 24 hours, so in some places, these procedures are increasingly being done by the pediatrician during the follow-up period in the doctor's office or clinic as opposed to the hospital," USA Today quoted Diekema as saying.
Apart from religious obligations, a large portion of the U.S. population conduct circumcisions on newborn boys because of its health benefits like reducing the risk of urinary tract infections in infants and cutting the risk of penile cancer and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, reports Reuters.
