Little is known about late 19th and early 20th century BMIs on the US Central Plains. Using data from the Nebraska state prison, this study demonstrates that the BMIs of dark complexioned blacks were greater than for fairer complexioned mulattos and whites. Although modern BMIs have increased, late 19th and early 20th century BMIs in Nebraska were in normal ranges; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common. Farmer BMIs were consistently greater than those of non-farmers, and farm labourer BMIs were greater than those of common labourers. The BMIs of individuals born in Plains states were greater than for other nativities, indicating that rural lifestyles were associated with better net current biological living conditions.

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.

In countries where age at parenthood has shifted to older ages, a necessary precondition for fertility recuperation is that women having their first child later in life (after age 30) will also eventually achieve a higher completed fertility, compared with the previous cohorts. This study analysed the changes in age-at-first-child-conditional fertility rates in Western Europe through three birth cohorts (1936–1940, 1946–1950 and 1956–1960). It was found that generations where recuperation is first evident (1956–1960 cohort) are characterized by comparatively higher fertility of late age-at-first-child women. This characteristic is not found in Eastern Europe, where ages at first birth and cohort fertility remained fairly constant across the cohorts analysed.

Central obesity has been associated with the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in children. A total of 358 Delhi school girls aged 6–11 years were measured for height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference. The study demonstrates a linear correlation between body mass index (BMI) and waist and hip circumference and suggests an indirect method of estimating waist and hip circumferences, whose high values may be used for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Further investigations on different groups are needed to substantiate these results and attribute BMI a predictive value in the clinical setting for the risk and diagnosis of childhood obesity-related metabolic disorders.

The aim of this study was to assess the somatic development of children from an urban agglomeration in Poland at the end of preschool education and the beginning of primary education with respect to selected socioeconomic and educational conditions. Data were collected for 742 children from selected Warsaw kindergartens in spring 2011 and 2012. Their mean age was 5.84±0.31 years. The sex categories were equal: 371 boys and 371 girls. Kindergartens chosen for the study constituted a representative sample. The diagnostic survey method (questionnaire technique) was used to assess the selected environmental conditions of development in the participating children. Body height and the sum of six skin folds (over the biceps, over the triceps, under the scapula, on the abdomen, over the wing of ilium and on the calf) were chosen from the assessed anthropometric parameters for the purpose of determining somatic development of study participants. The obtained data were analysed using selected descriptive statistics methods (including cluster analysis), data standardization (normalization by mean values and SD) and the chi-squared test. The results showed certain relationships between the selected parameters of somatic development and family living conditions. These relationships involved differences between individual clusters depending on given living conditions and were most prominent for mother's education, for which variable differences between clusters were found for both sexes. The somatic build of boys (including body height and body adiposity) also differed depending on the number of offspring in the family, while the somatic build of girls differed depending on father's employment and father's education. Furthermore, the obtained results lead to the conclusion that the total number of differences between the analysed clusters was relatively low. This indicates that the biological effects of social stratification tend to diminish in the environment of an urban agglomeration.

Employing the Indonesian Family Life Survey, this paper depicts the trend in age at menarche in Indonesia for women born in 1944–1988. Mean age at menarche decreased from 14.39 years for birth year 1944 to 13.18 years for birth year 1988. Subsequently, this trend is related to the improvement in material conditions, measured by GDP per capita in childhood. The OLS results indicate that this decrease is largely explained by the improvement in material conditions. If age at menarche is considered an indicator of biological standard of living, these results suggest that the improvement in material conditions during the period converted to an improvement in biological standard of living.

This study examines the trends and determinants of child marriage among women aged 20–49 in Bangladesh. Data were extracted from the last six nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys conducted during 1993–2011. Simple cross-tabulation and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were adopted. According to the survey conducted in 2011, more than 75% of marriages can be categorized as child marriages. This is a decline of 10 percentage points in the prevalence of child marriage compared with the survey conducted in 1993–1994. Despite some improvements in education and other socioeconomic indicators, Bangladeshi society still faces the relentless practice of early marriage. The mean age at first marriage has increased by only 1.4 years over the last one and half decades, from 14.3 years in 1993–1994 to 15.7 years in 2011. Although the situation on risk of child marriage has improved over time, the pace is sluggish. Both the year-of-birth and year-of-marriage cohorts of women suggest that the likelihood of marrying as a child has decreased significantly in recent years. The risk of child marriage was significantly higher when husbands had no formal education or little education, and when the wives were unemployed or unskilled workers. Muslim women living in rural areas have a greater risk of child marriage. Women's education level was the single most significant negative determinant of child marriage. Thus, the variables identified as important determinants of child marriage are: education of women and their husbands, and women's occupation, place of residence and religion. Programmes to help and motivate girls to stay in school will not only reduce early marriage but will also support overall societal development. The rigid enforcement of the legal minimum age at first marriage could be critical in decreasing child marriage.

Women's education is associated with positive social and health outcomes for women and their families, as well as greater opportunities and decision-making power for women. An extensive literature documents ways in which broader, societal changes have facilitated roles for women beyond reproduction, yet there is minimal exploration at the family level. This study used inter-generational cohort data from the Philippines to examine mothers' aspirations for their children's education, and how these aspirations predict children's subsequent educational attainment. Mothers' education, household wealth and a locally developed measure of women's status were positively associated with higher educational aspirations for children; however, only mothers with the highest fertility were less likely to desire their children to attend college or higher. Mothers' fertility and aspirations both significantly and independently predicted children's school completion. Together, these findings indicate that increased opportunities for Filipina women beyond childbearing may not only positively benefit these women themselves, but also future generations.

Fertility transition in Sri Lanka began in the mid-1960s and the declining trend continued over the decades. The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2000 showed the total fertility rate (TFR) reaching 1.9 births per woman, a level below replacement fertility. The next DHS of 2006/7 showed a TFR of 2.3. Some have interpreted this pattern as indicating a reversal of the fertility transition. This paper casts doubts on the below-replacement fertility revealed in the 2000 survey.