ECONOMIC GROWTH: KEY TO AIR CONSERVATION PROGRESS.
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Air Pollution↗
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Educational homogamy in Ireland and Britain: trends and patterns.
This paper examines the pattern of educational homogamy in Ireland and Britain. Using contemporary data on recent marriages from the early 1970s through to the mid-1990s, we show that these two countries share a broadly similar pattern of educational homogamy, which is quasi-symmetric in character, with no tendency for women to marry up over and above that which can be attributed to the gender difference in educational attainment. In the 1970s, the strength of homogamy was much weaker in Ireland than in Britain. But we discern a clear inter-country difference in how the net strength of homogamy has changed over time. While it has declined in Britain since the 1970s, in Ireland the strength of homogamy has first increased and then levelled off. Our findings are inconsistent with the inverted U-shaped relationship between economic development and homogamy reported by Smits, Ultee and Lammers (1998) - an argument premised on secular change in the criteria of spouse selection. Instead, our results are better understood in terms of Mare's (1991) life course argument that homogamy is inversely related to the time-gap between school departure and first marriage.
Adolescent↗
Julian Simon versus the Ehrlichs: an institutionalist perspective.
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Behavior↗
Fertility in Kenya and Uganda: a comparative study of trends and determinants.
Between 1980 and 2000 total fertility in Kenya fell by about 40 per cent, from some eight births per woman to around five. During the same period, fertility in Uganda declined by less than 10 per cent. An analysis of the proximate determinants shows that the difference was due primarily to greater contraceptive use in Kenya, though in Uganda there was also a reduction in pathological sterility. The Demographic and Health Surveys show that women in Kenya wanted fewer children than those in Uganda, but that in Uganda there was also a greater unmet need for contraception. We suggest that these differences may be attributed, in part at least, first, to the divergent paths of economic development followed by the two countries after Independence; and, second, to the Kenya Government's active promotion of family planning through the health services, which the Uganda Government did not promote until 1995.
Contraception↗
Population: malady or symptom?
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Economics↗
Diffusion reconsidered: variation and transformation in biomedical practice, a case study from Mexico.
This paper focuses on biomedical transformations in an economically developing nation and poses the question, what are the variant and invariant aspects of biomedical practice, using empirical data from Mexico? I propose that when infectious disease predominated, biomedicine may have been uniformly practiced the world over, but with the ascent of chronic disease of unknown etiology, certain aspects of biomedical practice, especially diagnoses and causality, become reinterpreted culturally and idiosyncratically. The findings of the case study also illuminate current theories of globalization and earlier anthropological theories of diffusion as well as issues concerning the social constructivist perspective.
Anthropology, Cultural↗
Trend in menarcheal age in Spain: rural and urban comparison during a recent period.
Menarcheal age of a sample of rural (n = 342) and urban (n = 469) girls with ages ranging from 9 to 16 years from Madrid province was analysed. Results, obtained through the status quo method and probit analysis (age 12.79 SD 1.04 in Madrid city and 12.90 SD 1.03 in rural sample), were compared with data from previous studies carried out in the same area, as well as those from other regions of the Iberian Peninsula. The aim of these comparisons was to establish the variability of menarche in the recent past, considering physical environment, degree of urbanization and socio-economic development. Decline in menarcheal age was detected and, in general, a tendency towards similar means among Spanish populations in the period studied.
Adolescent↗
Secular trends in growth among urban Brazilian children of European descent.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss a significant secular trend in stature and weight in an urban Brazilian population. METHODOLOGY: Anthropometric measurements of 7878 children and adolescents from São Paulo, Brazil, obtained in 1997/98 were compared with data from a previous study carried out in 1978. Both samples include children of middle-class urban families of European ancestry. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Comparisons between the two samples reveal strong positive secular trends in both height and weight. Furthermore, the 1997/98 sample shows no growth deficits in relation to the WHO/NCHS international reference. CONCLUSIONS: The positive trend can be explained as the result of economic development and improvement of social indicators, while the absence of growth deficits, contrary to what is reported in other studies carried out in developing countries, follows from the common genetic background of the Brazilian sample surveyed here and the US sample which is the basis of the NCHS/WHO reference.
Adolescent↗
Height and secular trend in conscripts born in the Central Apennines (Italy), 1865-1972.
OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the research was to evaluate the effects of prolonged isolation on the secular trend of height in an internal zone of the central Apennines (Abruzzo, Province of L'Aquila). METHODS: Personal data for 1006 military conscripts in five sample years from 1865 to 1972 were used. The mean, standard deviation, median, skewness and kurtosis were calculated. Normal distribution of the data was assessed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Monte Carlo method). Differences between the means were tested by ANOVA and the Tukey test. RESULTS: Mean height increased from 161.3 +/- 5.97 cm in 1865 to 172.6 +/- 6.28 cm in 1972. The increases were slight, but constant, in the first 80 years: between 0.44 and 0.86 cm/decade, but greater thereafter: 2.37 cm/decade between 1945 and 1972. Regarding the frequency distribution, skewness showed negative values only in 1865 (-0.37 +/- 0.21). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test did not show significance for any period. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that the mean heights in south-central Italy, including Abruzzo, were lower than those of the more economically advanced regions of northern Italy in each period. The difference has decreased greatly in the last few generations, but the secular trend is continuing in these communities. This seems to be due to prolonged isolation which has retarded economic development and favoured endogamy and genetic drift. However, it has also prevented the negative effects of wars, since there was no reduction of the secular trend in those periods.
Adolescent↗
Trend in physical growth among children in southern Iran, 1988-2003.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss a significant secular trend in stature, weight and mid-arm circumference (MAC) of school children of the same age (6.5-11.5 years) and sex in representative samples from primary schools of Shiraz (southern Iran) at an interval of 15 years (1988 vs 2003). Both samples include children of various socio-economic backgrounds. For both males and females of each age-class, there are significant positive secular trends in stature, weight and MAC. The results suggest that post-war born children sampled in 2003 are generally taller, heavier and larger than their peers of 15 years earlier born pre- and during the war period of Iraq against Iran. Furthermore, the 2003 sample shows less growth deficits in relation to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reference data. The positive trend can be explained as the result of economic development and improvement of social and health indicators in the post-war Iran reconstruction period.
Aging↗
Social conditions and menarcheal age: the importance of early years of life.
Data on the historical trends for menarcheal age and socio-economic conditions in Norway are used to investigate whether the reproductive system in humans is especially sensitive to environmental stimuli during any particular short age periods. The method which has been used is based on the irregularity in the trend for socio-economic development. These irregularities are reflected in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a quantity for which official estimates are available from 1865 onwards. Estimates of menarcheal age for women born in each year from about 1840 have been calculated from information obtained from maternity clinic records. For the period between 1900 and World War II, a close correspondence is found between the GDP in a year, and the menarcheal age of women born in the same or the preceding year. For the years before 1900, the data on menarcheal age is less satisfactory, but the correspondence may be fairly good also for this period. When values of GDP corresponding to higher ages is used, the correlation is less satisfactory. Other information on the susceptibility of the reproductive system towards environmental influences is reviewed. The following conclusion is reached: during the period around or after birth, the processes leading to menarche are clearly more sensitive than at later ages. During adolescence, the maturation process may be influenced somewhat, but probably not much as long as the conditions are not adverse. These observations may be seen as illustrating that phenomena corresponding to the critical or sensitive periods described for animal species, are also observable during the longer-lasting process of human development.
Adolescent↗
The pattern of early menstrual cycles in Nigerian girls.
Between October 1980 and June 1981 a total of 2528 recorded menstrual cycles were collected from 422 girls in four girls' secondary schools at Enugu and Nuskka in Anambra State, Nigeria. The mean and standard deviation for all cycles were 30.9 and 18.60 days, respectively. The results support the findings from other parts of the World that menstrual cycles are highly irregular during the first few years after menarche and that the variability of these cycles decreases as menstrual life continues. A comparison between the pattern of irregularity indicated in our study and those of earlier studies in North America and Europe at different time points suggests that socio-economic development, with its attendant improvements in nutrition and the elimination of infectious diseases, may be helping to bring about a reduction in the variability of early menstrual cycles, the reduction being particularly significant in respect of very long cycles.
Adolescent↗
The growth of boys in the Stuttgart Carlschule, 1771-93.
Height measurements taken in a mixed longitudinal manner on 1084 German-born boys aged 7 to 21+ at the Carlschule Academy in Stuttgart during the period 1771-93 have been examined. The boys can be divided into upper (aristocrat), middle and lower (artisan, servant) classes, nearly all housed and fed in this boarding school. Preece-Baines curves have been fitted to a subsample of 155 boys whose measurements cover at least the period 12-16 years at a density of two or three per year. In addition, the whole data, totalling 11,040 observations, have been examined as if purely cross-sectional; and the height-at-entry measurement for each of 670 students has been examined. The results of the longitudinal subsample and the cross-sectional analyses agree reasonably well. Social class differences existed both in tempo of growth as signified by age at peak height velocity, and in adult height. The longitudinal analysis gives adult differences of about 2 cm between upper and middle classes and a further 2 cm between middle and lower, even amongst these boys all resident in the same, very privileged, school. Tempo differences between upper and middle class were minor, amounting to only 0.3 year, but lower-class boys had their maximum growth increment about a year later than the others. Amongst middle classes a secular trend of about 2 cm averaged over all ages was found between those born before 1770 and those born later. This mainly represents a trend in tempo rather than in adult height. The heights of these boys are compared with those of contemporary Austrian upper and lower classes, English upper and lower classes, American Army cadets, and American slaves. The increase in German middle-class heights during the 18th century indicates that this group was improving its nutritional status and well-being, at a time when the heights of the remainder of the population were constant or declining. This is evidence in favour of the view that at the beginning of economic development the distribution of income tends to become more skewed.
Adolescent↗
Use of antioxidant nutrients in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), is increasingly common throughout the world. The World Health Organization has predicted that between 1997 and 2025, the number of diabetics will double from 143 million to about 300 million. The incidence of NIDDM is highest in economically developed nations, particularly the U.S., where approximately 6.5% of the population (17 million people) have either diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes. The two most important factors contributing to the development of NIDDM are obesity and physical inactivity. The leading cause of mortality and morbidity in people with NIDDM is cardiovascular disease caused by macro- and microvascular degeneration. Current therapies for NIDDM focus primarily on weight reduction. Indeed, several investigations indicate that 65% to 75% of cases of diabetes in Caucasians could be avoided if individuals in this subgroup did not exceed their ideal weight. The success of this approach has been, at best, modest. An alternate approach to the control of Type 2 diabetes is to arrest the progress of the pathology until a cure has been found. To this end, some investigators suggest that dietary antioxidants may be of value. Several studies in humans and laboratory animals with NIDDM indicate that vitamin E and lipoic acid supplements lessen the impact of oxidative damage caused by dysregulation of glucose metabolism. In this brief review, we discuss the incidence, etiology, and current therapies for NIDDM and further explore the usefulness of dietary antioxidants in treating this disorder.
Antioxidants↗
South African Zulu widows in a time of poverty and social change.
Interviews were carried out with 16 South African Zulu widows. Much of what the widows had to say seemed like what one might hear from widows in economically developed countries, but there were also striking differences. All the widows lived in poverty, and for some their grief seemed much more about the poverty than about the husband's death. Most widows observed a year of traditional ukuzila mourning practices, which made them a threat to others and which is difficult to carry out in the social upheaval of modern South Africa. Widowhood was in some cases a struggle with witchcraft--as cause of the death or as an accusation directed at the widow.
Bereavement↗
Suicide in the world: toward a population increase theory of suicide.
Using recently obtained suicide rates and economic development indicators for 60 countries, this study investigates the effects of modernization on suicide throughout the world. Results support the hypothesis that high suicide rates are related to modernization but with revisions. Although suicide is negatively correlated with population growth indicators and positively correlated with quality of life indicators, in multiple regression analyses with all other factors controlled, the population growth factor is a much better predictor of suicide rates than the quality of life factor. This finding holds true for both developing and developed countries when the two subsamples were tested separately. The population increase theory of suicide is highlighted as an explanation of suicide rates in the world, and ramifications of the theory are discussed.
Developed Countries↗
Induced population growth and induced technological progress: their interaction in the accelerating stage.
"A simple model of Malthusian population growth combined with population-induced technological progress generates accelerating growth. The model may be relevant for a first stage of growth in which natural resource limitations can be overcome through technological progress; it is not applicable to a later stage in which resource constraints are more resistant. Parameter values are roughly inferred from historical experience." (SUMMARY IN FRE)
Conservation of Natural Resources↗
Is AIDS a disease of poverty?
This paper aims to begin to consider the evidence for AIDS as a disease of poverty. It seeks to describe the important influence of the social and economic context of HIV/AIDS and of those behaviours associated with HIV transmission, and argues for a shift in emphasis in the conceptualization of the 'problem of AIDS'. The relationship between poverty and AIDS is explored, particularly in relation to global economic development, urbanization, homelessness and the disintegration of neighbourhoods, migration and systems of labour and production. Examples of socially-driven community-based responses to the prevention and control of the HIV epidemic in diverse cultures are discussed and the need for new outcome measures for assessing community initiatives is proposed.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗