This paper examines the changing patterns of knowledge, attitude and use of traditional methods of contraception, compared to modern methods, over the last five contraceptive prevalence surveys in Bangladesh (1981–91). The results show that knowledge of at least one method of family planning is universal in Bangladesh and usage is higher at all ages for women who are using modern methods than for those who are using traditional methods. Educated women and those in employment are more likely to use modern contraceptive methods.

The daily activities observed in a Colombian village community of contemporary hunting and gathering people were analysed with respect to their time structure. Short term cycles of about 2 hours could be detected in both individual and common behavioural patterns. These behaviour cycles of individual group members appear to have been synchronised by social interaction. From temporal variations of individual activities a common ultradian time frame emerged.

In this survey of attitudes towards permanent contraceptive methods, four groups were studied: (A) men having undergone a vasectomy 12 months previously (n = 61); (B) men currently attending for vasectomy (n = 58); (C) female partners of men currently undergoing vasectomy (n = 60); and (D) women undergoing sterilization by tubal ligation (n = 52). All patients completed a questionnaire which included questions on the reasons for selecting their chosen method, and attitudes towards permanent methods and hypothetical pills and injectable contraceptives for men. Results showed that contraception was generally regarded as a mutual responsibility. This attitude was more pronounced in the vasectomy groups than among the sterilization women. Generally favourable reactions were elicited with respect to vasectomy, although substantial proportions expressed a preference for alternative methods (40%). Women undergoing sterilization exhibited predominantly negative attitudes towards this procedure. The implications of these findings, in terms of enhancing the acceptability of new male methods and improving subsequent adjustment to currently available permanent methods, are discussed.

A new analysis of a randomised double-blind trial confirms the fact that vitamin–mineral supplementation has a statistically significant effect on non-verbal IQ as measured by the WISC-R test. Further studies may show if this effect is large enough to be of practical importance.

The population of African countries, typical of developing countries, is characterized by the large proportion of children and young people. An almost perfect pyramid illustrates the age distribution of Ghana's population (Text-fig. 1).

Projections of future population point to a further rise in the proportion of children (0–15 years of age) from the present 45% to 47–49% by the year 1980. The children of today will be the parents of tomorrow and for the adolescents the statement can be taken literally; the study of adolescents and their sexual and fertility problems, therefore, needs urgent attention. Especially in black Africa, these problems cannot be studied in isolation from the traditional, cultural and socio-economic environment. Indeed much of the psychosexual trauma of this group is closely interwoven with their complex backgrounds.

The extent to which it is possible to recognize distinctive patterns of marriage and fertility within sub-groups of the rural population is examined by an analysis of the fertility experience of 294 females who lived in a single village in southern Normandy at some period between 1901 and 1975. Aggregate analysis demonstrates the existence of differential fertility between classes. Examination of circumstantial evidence for individual sub-groups suggests that attitudes towards capital accumulation and inheritance are the major explanatory factors for these differentials.

A group of 20 brain-damaged (BD) subjects was added to the canonical analysis, reported earlier, of mandibular symphysis shape, in the following groups: (1) Down's syndrome (DS), (2) familial idiopathic sub-normality (FIS), (3) intermediate intelligence (II), and (4) high intelligence (HI). Significant separations between means were found for all pairs of groups, except only II–HI. The separation between the BD and FIS groups supports the hypothesis that a genetic mechanism (pleiotropy) underlies the link between intelligence and symphysis shape, but environmental influences probably account for most of the separation between the BD and the two normal groups. The findings have implications for the study of behaviour genetics

Although abortion is still illegal in the Philippines it appears to be increasing. This article reviews the methods to which women wanting to terminate a pregnancy resort, in spite of the health risks attached to them; these traditional practices include the use of herbal and pharmaceutical preparations supposedly with abortifacient properties, catheter insertion, abdominal massage and dilatation and curettage. It then goes on to discuss menstrual data from the records of two doctors in one ciry who are amongst the relatively small number of people in the country who are using the technique at the present time.

This paper investigates the behavioural aspects of health care use for Jordanian children from birth to 3 years using data from a national survey. Statistical analysis indicate differences in the determinants of the use of paediatric care and immunisation: whereas immunisation coverage was already good in 1983 (and has improved subsequently), paediatric care is used for fewer than half of the children under 1 year of age. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the population, especially female education, and maternal health care use, are important determinants of these patterns of child health care. The absence of differences in paediatric care and immunisation by sex of the child are discussed.

In the past 20 years at least 54 countries have passed legislation setting or raising the minimum age at marriage. How successful this legislation will be is questionable, especially when it runs counter to prevailing social and cultural institutions and beliefs, but it does reflect the growing international concern with delaying marriage. The deleterious consequences of early marriage are most evident in high birth rates and low status of women, both of which prevent poor countries from developing. Concern for postponing marriage has evolved from the larger objectives of stemming population growth and of guaranteeing women their basic rights. To raise the standard of health and education of the mother thus improves the welfare of the family.

This paper examines the level and trend of fertility in Huaibei Plain, Anhui province, China, since 1950 and considers some determinants of fertility decline. The data used are from the 1/1000 survey of China which was conducted by the Family Planning Commission in 1982.

Fertility decline among younger women (aged under 30) is largely due to later age at marriage, the marriage pattern of Huaibei Plain having changed from early and universal marriage to later and universal marriage. Current use of contraception suggests that the family planning programme, in particular the one-child policy (1979), has been the major determinant in fertility decline. The greatest decline in marital fertility occurred among women aged 35+ and is primarily due to contraceptive practice and induced abortion.

Before World War II, mortality in Australia had decreased progressively since 1860, the first year for which statistics are available. The present study shows that this decline in mortality, although interrupted by the war, continued again during the 1950s but appears to have halted around 1960. In some age groups, death rates have even increased during the 1960s.

The alteration in the trend of mortality has occurred mainly in the middle age group, 35–64, while death rates for persons aged over 64 have tended to remain constant and those for persons aged 15 and under have continued to decline. Death rates for males aged 15–34 declined throughout the period, tending to level off towards the end, whereas the rates for females aged 15–34 have increased during recent years.

The retardation of mortality decline appears to have resulted from a slight increase in death rates from arteriosclerotic and degenerative heart disease, together with rapid increases in death rates from lung cancer for males and motor vehicle accidents for females.

This paper examines patterns of fertility and family planning in China, particularly by an analysis of recently available provincial data for the period around 1981. Fertility rates in the more urban and developed parts of China are very low, approximating those of countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world. Family planning in these areas is also very common and widespread. The more rural and interior areas of China, however, are characterized by much higher fertility rates and by much lower family planning rates. Family planning variables are very good predictors of provincial fertility.

Substantial intergenerational transmission of diabetes mellitus (DM) risk exists. However, less is known regarding whether parental DM and DM among extended family members relate to adult offspring’s body mass index (BMI), and whether any of these associations vary by sex. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY97), we assess the sex-specific relationship between DM present in first-degree parents and second-degree relatives and BMI among the parents’ young adult offspring.

Multivariate regressions reveal a positive relationship between parental DM and young adults’ BMI for both daughters and sons, and the magnitude of coefficients is somewhat larger for the same-sex parent. Further, we observe that the link between parental DM and young adults’ BMI is strongest when both parents have diagnosed diabetes. In contrast, the relationship between second-degree relatives with DM and the respondent’s BMI is weaker and appears to be sex-specific, through same-sex parent and respondent. Logistic regressions show the association is especially strong when assessing how parental DM status relates to young adults’ obesity risk. These results generally persist when controlling for parental BMI. The findings of this study point to the need to better distinguish the role of shared family environments (e.g., eating and physical activity patterns) from shared genes in order to understand factors that may influence young adults’ BMI. Young adult offspring of parents with diabetes should be targeted for obesity prevention efforts in order to reduce their risks of obesity and perhaps diabetes.

This paper reports the preliminary findings of an analysis of the Moray House (verbal IQ) results of a base sample of 4383 Orkney children due to be tested in the schools at age 11±1½ years in 1947–75. Girls enjoy a 3·63% premium relative to phenotypically equivalent boys at test age. Relationships within the sample, which includes some members of the parental generation, are known. The trait is found to be X-linked, with nine phenotypes in the boys, and lyonization is involved.

Increasing women’s knowledge about maternal health is an important step towards empowering them and making them aware of their rights and health status, allowing them to seek appropriate health care. In Yemen, the ongoing conflict has hampered the delivery of health information to women in public health facilities. This study examined rural women’s knowledge of, and attitude towards, maternal and child health in Yemen and identified the factors associated with good maternal health knowledge. The study was conducted between August and November 2018. A sample of 400 women aged 15–49 years who had delivered in the 6 months prior to the survey were systematically selected from selected public health facilities in Abyan and Lahj. Women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to gather data on their demographic and economic characteristics, obstetric history and responses to health knowledge and attitude questions. Women’s knowledge level was assessed as poor or good using the mean score as a cut-off. Chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to identify statistically significant factors associated with good maternal health knowledge. The percentage of women who had good knowledge was 44.8% (95% CI: 39.8–49.8). Women’s attitude towards maternal health was negative in the areas of early ANC attendance, managing dietary regime and weight during pregnancy, facility delivery, PNC visits, cord care and mother and child health management. Women with primary education, whose husbands had received no formal education, who had their first ANC visit from the second trimester of pregnancy and who had fewer than four ANC visits were more likely to have poor health knowledge. Conversely, those with higher household income and only one child were more likely to have good maternal health knowledge. Overall, women’s knowledge on maternal and child health care in rural areas of Yemen was low. Strategies are needed to increase rural women’s knowledge on maternal and child health in this conflict-affected setting.

Existing research on human growth in Mexico is regionally focused, creating a gap in the understanding of growth patterns of children and adolescents at national level and regional variation. The objective of the present study was to characterize the height growth curve of the Mexican population by geographic area and to cluster the states of the Mexican Republic according to their somatic maturation characteristics, based on a national representative sample of boys. Data on age, height, socioeconomic level, and geographic area of 18,219 boys were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 (ENSANUT) and ENSANUT 2018, carried out in 32 Mexican states. Both surveys had representative samples. Preece–Baines 1 model was applied to fit height growth curves. Biological parameters were estimated; principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed to group Mexican states based on these biological parameters. The estimated age at peak height velocity (PHV) was 12.3 years in the sample. Significant regional differences in the timing and tempo of PHV among Mexican boys were observed. Boys in the northern region experienced PHV at an earlier age and had a shorter duration of growth compared with boys in the central and southern regions. Boys in the central region had a longer duration of growth and a later age of PHV compared with the boys in the southern region. The cluster that included the southern states of the country showed estimated lower adult height and earlier somatic maturation. A lower height was found in the low and low-middle socioeconomic levels compared with the medium-high and high socioeconomic levels. Future research in Mexico should focus on longitudinal studies to analyse the timing and tempo of growth and maturation, considering the impacts of environmental and genetic factors. Public health strategies should account for geographic variations.