This study examines the relationship between family planning, perceived availability of contraceptives, and sociodemographic factors in rural Bangladesh. Data are from the 1990 KAP survey in the Matlab treatment and comparison areas, using a sample of about 8500 married women of reproductive age. The contraceptive prevalence rate was 57% in the treatment area but substantially lower in the comparison area where mainly traditional methods of family planning were used by women who did not know of a source of supply of contraceptives. Education has no effect on contraceptive use in the treatment area but in the comparison area, modest but consistent differentials in use by level of education were found. Number of living children is the best predictor for contraceptive use, followed by number of living sons, and the attitude of respondents and their husbands towards family planning.

Parental investment theory postulates that where physical condition varies significantly then birth sex ratio will be correlated with social status. Application of this theory to man remains contentious. This study examines physique, wealth, and social status in relation to the sex of live births. It reports a female-biased sex ratio in high social and economic status Nepalese. Close consanguineous marriage, intended to conserve landed wealth within related lineages, and increased female work burdens accompanying larger farm size, are proximate factors which may underlie this finding. A differential payback hypothesis is one way of explaining this pattern.

Sex differences are reported for samples of approximately 1000 16-year-old blacks, Indians and whites in South Africa on ten tests of cognitive ability. Males obtained significantly higher means on non-verbal reasoning, spatial and mechanical aptitude, and females obtained significantly higher means on perceptual speed and memory for meaning (except among the black sample). In general the sex differences in South Africa are consistent with those typically obtained in the United States.

This study examines the association between age cohort and utilization of maternal health care services in India, before and after adjusting for individual, household and contextual factors. Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey 2005–06, women were classified into three distinct age cohorts based on their age at childbirth: 15–24, 25–34 and 35–49 years. Binary logistic regression models were applied to assess the influence of women's age cohort on receiving full antenatal care (ANC) and skilled birth attendance (SBA). The analytical sample included the women who delivered their most recent birth at any time in the 5 years preceding the survey. Women belonging to the younger age cohort were found to be disadvantaged in receiving full ANC, whereas increasing age of women was negatively associated with receiving SBA. Low level of education, low mass media exposure, low autonomy, belonging to deprived social groups, poor economic status and residence in the central region were found to be major constraining factors in receiving full ANC and SBA for women in India. The findings support the need for ‘age-sensitive’ interventions that tailor programmes and incentives to women's health care needs through the reproductive life-stage. Urgent efforts are needed to ensure that women who are illiterate and those belonging to low autonomy and low socioeconomic groups receive the recommended maternal health care benefits.

Successes in science tend to be successful attempts at reduction and causal interaction. The reduction of the interaction of bodies to the laws of motion and the reduction of chemical phenomena to elements and their interactions are good examples. In these cases reductionism leads to observed phenomena being explained by a relatively small number of basic concepts and the laws which govern the interaction of the concepts. The spectrum of inquiry that stretches from common sense to scientific psychology is infused with a tendency toward reductionism. Hippocrates and Galen originated and developed, respectively, the notion that temperamental differences might be reducible to the amounts of four bodily fluids, or humours (black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm), that a person produced. Astrologers reduced stable personality differences to the positions of the stars and planets at the time of birth. And differential psychologists have reduced the personality trait adjectives contained in the lexicon to about five major dimensions.

This study examines trends in menarcheal age of women born in China between 1950 and 1973, and explores the impact of relevant social background characteristics on the timing of first menarche. Data on recalled ages of menarche collected in the 1988 Chinese Two-per-Thousand Fertility Survey are used in a linear regression model where the covariates are transformed with the help of an Alternating Conditional Expectation (ACE) algorithm. The results indicate that a trend towards early menarche has evolved in China during recent decades. The pattern of early menarche is especially pronounced among women residing in urban areas, and those who are better educated.

Information is collected from the literature on the age at which British children were weaned from the breast between 1500 and 1800. The weaning age recommended by ‘professionals’ was compared with that said by contemporaries to be common, and with those found in a sample of 42 children. A significant decrease was found in the length of suckling particularly after 1750; this was possibly related to the availability and social acceptability of artificial feeding, an increase in the incidence of maternal suckling among upper and middle class women, and the effects of industrialization. The reason for weaning was individual to each nursing couple; no significant difference was found between the weaning age of males and females, or between wet nursed and maternally breast-fed infants; the weaning age within families was not significantly different from a sample of unrelated children within the same period. Between 1650 and 1800 the weaning age recommended by medical writers was apparently representative of actual practice.

This paper examines the effect of orphanhood and HIV status of adults in a household on onset of sexual activity among adolescent girls and boys aged 15–17 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Multilevel logistic regression models were applied to pooled Demographic and Health Surveys data from nineteen countries of sub-Saharan Africa where HIV test data were collected during 2003–2008 from nationally representative samples of men and women of reproductive age. The results highlight increased vulnerability among adolescent boys and girls living in households where an adult is infected with HIV, and adolescent boys who are paternal orphans. On average, adolescent boys and girls living in households where at least one adult is HIV-positive have about 25% higher odds of having initiated sexual activity compared with their counterparts of similar characteristics in households where no adult is HIV-positive. Furthermore, adolescent boys who are paternal orphans have about 25% higher odds of having initiated sexual activity than their non-orphan counterparts of similar individual characteristics. Further analysis reveals that household circumstances relating to living arrangements and poverty are important pathways through which household HIV/AIDS status is linked to adolescent sexual debut. The findings underscore the importance of international efforts in the sub-Saharan Africa region to address the plight of other children in HIV/AIDS-affected households, beyond orphans.

The influences of household economic condition, maternal education, sex, and nutritional status of children on mortality were examined using multivariate analytical techniques. Weights of around 1700 children aged 2–60 months in five villages of Matlab, Bangladesh, were taken during the first half of 1981. The children were followed for 18 months and their survival was recorded. The severely malnourished children had a risk of death nine times that of their counterparts with better nutritional status. Female children had a higher risk of death than the males. Mother's education and economic condition of household also showed negative relationships with the risk of death, but the effect of mother's education was modified by economic condition and sex of the children.

In the second and third quarters of 1970, 155 women applied for abortion to two of the three consultant gynaecologists at the Royal Northern Hospital, London. Of the applicants, 100 were single, forty-two married and thirteen widowed, divorced or separated (WDS). The single women came disproportionately from larger than average families, and fifty-eight were from broken or unhappy homes. Of the total sample, 39% were Church of England and 30% Roman Catholic. By occupation, the largest group was of semi-skilled or unskilled workers (thirty-seven) and the smallest one of professional women (seven). Less than half were Britishborn and one-third were from the Commonwealth. More than half had never attempted to use any method of contraception. The 155 patients between them had had fourteen previous abortions and twenty-five illegitimate children.

Of the 155 women, seventy-one single, twenty-three married and eight WDS obtained an abortion, this proportion of single women being considerably higher than the national average. So also was the proportion of women in the age range 20–34 years. Slightly more women who were Britishborn and C of E by religion obtained abortion than were represented in the sample as a whole. A number of clinic and hospital details were recorded, such as stage of pregnancy at first hospital interview and at abortion, delay in securing hospital appointment and bed. A follow-up, about 18 months later, showed that nearly all the women were glad they had had an abortion; very few had experienced serious depression, feelings of guilt or religious problems afterwards. Most of the women who needed it were now using birth control, mostly the pill. Three patients became pregnant again within a year of their termination. One had a miscarriage and one (a schoolgirl) had a second termination. The third applied for a second abortion, but was refused.

Fifty-three women, approximately one-third, did not have a hospital abortion, but only fifteen of these were categorically refused; the others had spontaneous or private abortions, changed their minds after interview or failed to appear for the operation. Of the fifteen, seven were refused because the pregnancy was too far advanced. Two girls were refused because they had had previous unwanted pregnancies, but had not used contraception on this occasion; one of these was 19 years old and already had had two abortions and an illegitimate baby. The remaining six were refused for various reasons.

Some general conclusions are drawn from the survey and some recommendations made.

Chlamydia trachomitis is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the UK and the number of cases diagnosed each year continues to rise. Although much is known about the risk factors for chlamydia from previous observational studies, less is known about how individuals put themselves at risk. Do they engage in just one risky type of behaviour or are certain individuals ‘risky’, engaging in multiple risky behaviours? This paper uses latent class analysis, applied to the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles II (2000–2001), to determine whether a subgroup of high-risk individuals can be identified and explores which features of their behaviour distinguish them from other groups of lower risk individuals. A 3-class solution was obtained, splitting the sample on the basis of the number of sexual partners in the past year. Those with no sexual partners in the past year (8%) and one sexual partner in the past year (71%) were much less likely to have engaged in any of the other behaviours known to increase chlamydia risk. However, the group who had two or more sexual partners in the past year (21%) were much more likely to have also engaged in other risky behaviours. The number of partners in the past year is therefore a useful marker for identifying those at increased risk of chlamydia infection. Individuals under 25 years old, males and those who were single or previously married were more likely to be allocated to the risky group. However, in spite of observed higher incidence of chlamydia infection, individuals in the black ethnic minority groups did not show an increased prevalence of risky behaviour, after controlling for age, sex and marital status.

Counselling on contraception and contraceptive method provision are key components of post-abortion care (PAC). Some studies have suggested that adolescent PAC patients receive worse care than older women seeking these services. This study aimed to evaluate an intervention whose goal was to improve the counselling and contraceptive uptake of PAC patients, with special attention given to the needs of adolescent patients, in the four public hospitals in the Dominican Republic where PAC services were not being routinely offered. The counselling intervention effort included provider training and the development of adolescent-friendly information, education and communication (IEC) materials. Eighty-eight providers were interviewed at baseline and 6 months after the intervention was implemented. Six months after providers were trained, 140 adolescent PAC patients (≤19 years of age) and 134 older PAC patients (20–35 years) were interviewed about the contraceptive counselling messages and contraceptive methods they received before they were discharged from hospital. The adolescent and older PAC patients were matched on study hospital and time of arrival. Significant improvements were noted in provider knowledge and attitudes. No changes were noted in provider-reported PAC counselling behaviours, with close to 70% of providers reporting they routinely assess patients' fertility intentions, discuss contraception, assess STI/HIV risk and discuss post-abortion complications. Adolescent and older PAC patients reported receiving PAC counselling messages at similar rates. Forty per cent of adolescent PAC patients and 45% of older PAC patients who wanted to delay pregnancy were discharged with a contraceptive method. Adolescents were more likely to receive an injectable contraceptive method whereas older women were discharged with a variety of methods. The PAC counselling intervention increased provider knowledge and improved their attitudes and benefited both adolescent and older patients.

In many cultural settings worldwide, within families, men tend to be responsible for important choices relating to the allocation of household resources and care-seeking behaviour that directly impact on the health of women and newborns. This study examines the extent of male participation in antenatal care (ANC), delivery, postnatal care (PNC), household chores and providing food to wives among tribal communities in India. In addition, health care providers’ views on male participation in maternal health were examined. Primary data were collected from 385 men aged 15–49 from rural Gadchiroli District in Maharashtra, India. Interviews of 385 men whose wives had delivered a child within the previous 2 years were conducted between November 2014 and March 2015. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were done. The results showed that the tribal men’s participation in maternal health care was minimal. Around 22% of the men reported accompanying their wives to ANC, 25% were present at the time of delivery of their children and 25% accompanied their wives to PNC. Participation in household work, and support for wives in other ways, were slightly better. The main reason given by men for not participating in maternal health care was that they didn’t think it was necessary, believing that all maternal health issues were women’s concern. Health care providers among these tribal communities in India should encourage men to participate in issues related to maternal health care.

Re-examination of the polygyny–fertility hypothesis, by multiple regression analysis of the 1988 Ghana DHS data, reveals that polygyny has no effect on the number of children ever born; i.e. polygynously married women are as fertile as those monogamously married. Husband's age has no significant role in determining the number of children ever born to a woman.

Access to and quality of services have increasingly been the focus of family planning programme managers, implementers and researchers in the developing world. In Vietnam, a country characterized by recent significant achievements in family planning, not much is known about the linkages between service accessibility and quality and contraceptive behaviour. Data for this study come from the Vietnam 1997 Demographic and Health Survey, with individual contraceptive use information recorded in the calendar section. Measures of access to and quality of services come from the Community/Health Facility Questionnaire, with key informant interviews and facility visits. The study focuses on the effects of the outreach programme and commune health centres on contraceptive method discontinuation for three modern, temporary methods: the IUD, oral pills and condoms. Longer travel time to commune health centres is found to be associated with significantly increased risks of first- and all-method discontinuation for any reason, while residence in communities with higher quality health centres is associated with significantly lower risks of method discontinuation. Access to and quality of the outreach programme are, in contrast, not significant determinants of method discontinuation for any reason. Similar results are found for first- and all-method discontinuation for service-related reasons. The effects of programmatic factors are more pronounced among older women and during the first three months of method use. This study provides evidence for the importance of family planning services for contraceptive method continuation in Vietnam. The results also highlight the need for a thorough evaluation of the family planning outreach programme in terms of its facilitation of women’s continued use of contraception.

The process of divorce is usually lengthy and hazardous, and can start quarrels that can lead to the abuse of women and their children. This study examines the effects of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality of babies born before and after divorce in Teknaf, a remote area of Bangladesh. The longitudinal demographic surveillance system (DSS) followed 1762 Muslim marriages in 1982–83 for 5 years to record divorce, deaths of spouse, emigration and births. It recorded 2696 live births during the follow-up period, and their survival status during infancy. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of divorce on neonatal and postneonatal mortality, controlling for maternal age at birth, parity, sex of the child and household economic status. The odds of neonatal and postneonatal deaths among babies born after divorce or less than 12 months before mothers were divorced were more than double the odds of those born to mothers of intact marriages. The odds of postneonatal deaths were two times higher among babies born more than 12 months before divorce happens than their peers. The high mortality of infants born before and after mothers were divorced may reflect how abusive marriage and divorce increase the vulnerability of women and children in rural Bangladesh. Divorce and abuse of women are difficult and intractable social and health problems that must be addressed.

Education is a crucial factor in influencing the pattern and timing of marriage for women, and the changes in levels of female literacy will also change the dynamics of family formation. India has experienced consistent improvement in levels of female literacy; therefore, this study examined the association of women's education with the changes in their demographic behaviour in the Indian context. The central idea of the paper is to examine the differences in age at marriage and first birth, choice of marriage partner and the number of children ever born based on educational attainment of women. In addition, the study examined incongruence in years of schooling and discontinuation from school, for children based on education of the mother. The study utilized data from the third round of District Level Household and Facility Survey. The sample constituted 344,164 ever-married women aged 35 years and above with surviving children aged 5–20 years. The results imply that women with higher education are more likely to marry late and have fewer children compared with less educated women. Accordingly, increase in education of women also increases the probability of marrying men with better education than themselves. The study further observed that education of wife has a greater association with the number of children ever born than the education of husband. At the same time, incongruence in years of schooling and drop-out from school are both high for children of uneducated women. The study also found that the children from urban areas are more likely to drop out than their rural counterparts. In addition to education of the mother, number and composition of children in the family and economic condition of the household are some other factors that influence the educational attainment of children.

Intermediary determinants are the most immediate mechanisms through which socioeconomic position shapes health inequities. This study examines the effect of community socioeconomic context on different indicators representing intermediary determinants of child health. In the context of Colombia, a developing country with a clear economic expansion, but one of the most unequal countries in the world, two categories of intermediary determinants, namely behavioural and psychosocial factors and the health system, are analysed. Using data from the 2010 Colombian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the results suggest that whilst the community context can exert a greater influence on factors linked directly to health, in the case of psychosocial factors and parent's behaviours, the family context can be more important. In addition, the results from multilevel analysis indicate that a significant percentage of the variability in the overall index of intermediary determinants of child health is explained by the community context, even after controlling for individual, family and community characteristics. These findings underline the importance of distinguishing between community and family intervention programmes in order to reduce place-based health inequities in Colombia.

A demographic survey among a probability sample of 980 married migrant women was carried out in Sydney in 1988. The sample included 507 Lebanese, 250 Turkish and 223 Vietnamese women. The study revealed differences in family formation patterns within and between the three groups and between them and the general population. Family size had declined among all three groups compared with their family of origin, and it was clear that the younger women would not achieve the same family sizes as the older women. Migrant women tended to marry earlier than the general population and to start their families earlier. While they showed a strong preference for their children to marry within their own ethnic and religious group, nearly one-third said it was up to the choice of the individual. Overall, the future family size of younger migrant women is expected to converge towards the Australian norm. Migrant families are in a state of transition between two cultures which needs to be recognised by health and family planning service providers.

The aim of this study was to assess the variation in student body height, weight and BMI in relation to several socioeconomic factors. Data (collected in 1998) were obtained through a structured questionnaire from 2800 students (1023 men and 1777 women) from Wrocław Universities, Poland. Information on students' age, reported height and weight and their place of residence prior to starting university, the number of siblings and parents' education were collected. Students with mothers or fathers with higher education had, on average, higher mean heights, but after correcting for other socioeconomic variables only place of residence showed a significant association with height and BMI, with those living in medium or large urban centres having a higher mean height and those living in small or medium urban areas having a lower mean BMI.