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What does the bible say about in-breeding ?
Arranged marriages between British Asians raise the risk of in-breeding and birth defects, a Government minister has said.
It is estimated that more than 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins, resulting in an increasing rate of genetic defects and high rates of infant mortality.
Figures show that British Pakistani children account for as many as one third of birth defects despite making up only three per cent of all UK births.
The likelihood of unrelated couples having the same variant genes that cause recessive disorders are estimated to be 100-1. Between first cousins, the odds increase to as much as one in eight.
In Bradford, more than three quarters of all Pakistani marriages are believed to be between first cousins.
In 2005, the city's Royal Infirmary Hospital said it had identified more than 140 different recessive disorders among local children, compared with the usual 20-30.
A study by two Indian doctors published in Neurology Asia, a medical journal, last year found a "significantly higher rate" of epilepsy among the children of parents who were blood relatives.
The issue of birth-defects and cousin marriage was first raised in parliament two years ago by Ann Cryer, the Labour MP for Keighley in West Yorkshire.
She said marriage between cousins was a "to do with a medieval culture where you keep wealth within the family".
She said: "If you go into a paediatric ward in Bradford or Keighley you will find more than half of the kids there are from the Asian community. Since Asians only represent 20-30 per cent of the population, you can see that they are over-represented."
Arranged marriages between British Asians raise the risk of in-breeding and birth defects, a Government minister has said.
It is estimated that more than 55 per cent of British Pakistanis are married to first cousins, resulting in an increasing rate of genetic defects and high rates of infant mortality.
Figures show that British Pakistani children account for as many as one third of birth defects despite making up only three per cent of all UK births.
The likelihood of unrelated couples having the same variant genes that cause recessive disorders are estimated to be 100-1. Between first cousins, the odds increase to as much as one in eight.
In Bradford, more than three quarters of all Pakistani marriages are believed to be between first cousins.
In 2005, the city's Royal Infirmary Hospital said it had identified more than 140 different recessive disorders among local children, compared with the usual 20-30.
A study by two Indian doctors published in Neurology Asia, a medical journal, last year found a "significantly higher rate" of epilepsy among the children of parents who were blood relatives.
The issue of birth-defects and cousin marriage was first raised in parliament two years ago by Ann Cryer, the Labour MP for Keighley in West Yorkshire.
She said marriage between cousins was a "to do with a medieval culture where you keep wealth within the family".
She said: "If you go into a paediatric ward in Bradford or Keighley you will find more than half of the kids there are from the Asian community. Since Asians only represent 20-30 per cent of the population, you can see that they are over-represented."
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