Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-956mj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-17T00:39:11.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rainfall and birthweight distribution in rural Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Han Bantje  and
Rudo Niemeyer
Han Bantje
Affiliation:
Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Rudo Niemeyer
Affiliation:
Africa Studies Centre, Leyden, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Seasonal variations in birthweights over a 10-year period are compared with the local rainfall pattern in a rural area of Tanzania. Mean birthweight falls by about 60 g in the course of the rainy season. Lagged regression analysis reveals a negative impact of rainfall on birthweight after 3 months. Deviations from average rainfall show a positive correlation with birthweight after 4 months, but only in the months when rainfall is critical for food crop production. The interactions of these contrary effects are held responsible for the sudden fluctuations in mean birthweight that were observed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , July 1984 , pp. 375 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bantje, H. (1982) Birthweight distribution and ante-natal care in Ikwiriri village, Tanzania. Trop. geog. Med. 34, 213.Google Scholar
Brown, K.H., Black, R.E. & Becker, S. (1982) Seasonal changes in nutritional status and the prevalence of malnutrition in a longitudinal study of young children in rural Bangladesh. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 36, 303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, R., Longhurst, R. & Pacey, A. (1981) Seasonal Dimensions to Rural Poverty. Pinter/Allanhead, Osmun, London.Google Scholar
Chen, L.C., Chowdury, A.K.M.A. & Huffman, S.L. (1979) Seasonal dimensions of energy protein malnutrition in rural Bangladesh: the role of agriculture, dietary practices, and infection. Ecol. Food Nutr. 8, 175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, J.S. (1981) Longitudinal Data Analysis. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Condon, R.G. (1982) Inuit natality rhythms in the central Canadian Arctic. J. biosoc. Sci. 14, 167.Google Scholar
Feachem, R.et al. (1978) Water, health, and development, an interdisciplinary evaluation. Tri-Med, London.Google Scholar
Gottman, J.M. (1981) Time-series Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Jackson, I.J. (1970) Rainfall over the Ruvu Basin and Surrounding Area. BRALUP Research Report no. 9. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Google Scholar
Mosher, S.W. (1979) Birth seasonality among peasant cultivators: the interrelationship of workload, diet, and fertility. Hum. Ecol. 7, 151.Google Scholar
Naeye, R.L. (1980) Seasonal variations in coitus and other risk factors, and the outcome of pregnancy. Early hum. Dev. 4, 61.Google Scholar
Pagezy, H. (1982) Seasonal hunger, as experienced by the Oto and the Twa of a Ntomba village in the Equatorial forest (Lake Tumba, Zaire). Ecol. Food Nutr. 12, 139.Google Scholar
Sandberg, A. (1974) Socio-economic Survey of the Lower Rufiji Floodplain. BRALUP Research Paper no. 34. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Google Scholar