In 1984, half of married/cohabiting Canadian women aged 18–49 years were using contraception, with sterilisation being the most prevalent method. This study, using data from the 1984 Canadian Fertility Survey of 5315 women aged 18–49 years, found that there was a preference for sons. Women with two sons are more likely to use contraception than those who have had two daughters; the gender of children may have a weak effect on contraceptive behaviour of Canadian couples at higher parities. Sociocultural factors (e.g. education, religion, religiosity) were also found to influence contraceptive behaviour.

This study examined the effects of biosocial variables on changes in nutritional status of rural Bangladeshi children, aged less than 2 years, pre- and post-1987 monsoon flooding. Nutritional status was measured by weight for age: variables included were age, sex, sickness during 2 weeks preceding the survey, intake of vitamin A capsules, socioeconomic status of household, and mother's education. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed an adverse effect of flood on nutrition and the effect was dependent on sex of child and intake of vitamin A. After the flood the proportion of severely malnourished children was significantly greater among those who had not taken vitamin A. For boys the proportion with severe malnutrition increased after the flood and the increase was greater than for girls; however, boys always had a lower risk of severe malnutrition than girls.

The place of vasectomy within the sterilisation programme in Delhi over the period 1983–88 is reviewed and data on vasectomy acceptance and characteristics of acceptors are analysed. Findings suggest a need to improve the strategy for the promotion of vasectomy within the metropolis.

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.

This study indicates that urban marital patterns in nine Nigerian cities influence fertility. Fertility is also influenced by age at marriage, region of residence, ethnicity and religion; education and employment lead to marriage delay and tend to conflict with childbearing by enhancing the status of women.

This paper uses the 1981 National Rural Demographic Survey to document childhood mortality variations in rural areas of Ethiopia. Four significant findings are highlighted. (1) Health status of parents is identified as an important determinant of childhood mortality. (2) Religion, region of residence and ethnicity interact in their effects on childhood mortality and the effect of ethnicity varies in different regions for the same religion; in some areas ethnicity may serve as a proxy for economic and cultural differences. (3) Childhood mortality is inversely related to literacy status of parents, which may also reflect socioecomic status. (4) The data show a clear difference in childhood mortality between the famine-prone areas and the rest.

A prospective study of 3080 Filipino mothers and non-twin births in 33 communities is used to study the determinants of mortality in week 1 postpartum. The results show significant nonlinear birth weight effects and the importance of environmental contamination, particularly for infants born by traditional methods at home, and several other intermediate and underlying determinants of perinatal mortality. The pathways through which important sociodemographic factors affect perinatal mortality are also presented.

The demand for postpartum sterilisation (performed within 42 days after delivery), is increasing both in developed and developing countries. The incidence of regret after postpartum sterilisation is important, but it could be minimised by carefully screening risk factors. Using trained paramedical personnel to perform postpartum sterilisation via minilaparotomy where physicians are in short supply appears to be safe and acceptable, under close medical supervision. Including postpartum sterilisation information in the antenatal counselling services effectively strengthens postpartum services and simultaneously helps to minimise subsequent regret.

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.

Data on grandparental surnames were obtained from children in 45 Italo-Albanesi villages in nine provinces of southern Italy and Sicily. Concordance of surnames (isonymy) and inbreeding by village were estimated for each province and on the total sample. Total mean isonymy is 0·0251. The weighted mean inbreeding coefficient, and its random and non-random components are 0·0063, 0·0024 and 0·0039, respectively. Isonymy values are similar to those of rural Italian villages except that Alpine and some Appennine villages appear to be more isolated and inbred.

Heterozygous 4.1(−) hereditary elliptocytosis results from the absence of one haploid set of protein 4.1, a major component of the red cell skeleton. Two successive epidemiological investigations revealed fifteen probands in the French Northern Alps. The frequency of this disease seems to be very high in four small villages isolated in the Aravis mountains. The genealogical study shows that eleven probands share common ancestors who lived eight or ten generations ago in these villages. Thus there was probably a founder effect from one pair of ancestors, strengthened by endogamy. In contrast, four probands originate from another area and are not genealogically related. Recent results in molecular genetics support the present data.

The effects of low income, urbanisation and young age population on age-adjusted rates of first marriage, divorce and live birth among the Japanese population in 46 prefectures were analysed by stepwise regression for 1970 and for 1975. During this period, Japanese society experienced a drastic change from long-lasting economic growth to serious recession in 1973. In both 1970 and 1975, the first marriage rate for females was inversely related to low income and the divorce rates for both males and females were positively related to low income. The live birth rate was significantly related to low income, urbanisation and young age population only in 1975. The first marriage rate for females and the divorce rates for both sexes increased significantly but the first marriage rate for males and live birth rate significantly decreased between 1970 and 1975. These findings suggest that low income was the essential factor affecting first marriage for females and divorce for males and females.

Studies to evaluate use-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of natural family planning (NFP) were conducted in Liberia and Zambia. The Liberian programme provided uni-purpose NFP services to 1055 clients mainly in rural areas; the Zambian programme provided NFP services integrated with MCH to 2709 clients predominantly in urban areas. The one-year life table continuation and unplanned pregnancy rates were 78·9 and 4·3 per 100 women-years in Liberia, compared to 71·2 and 8·9 in Zambia. However, high rates of loss to follow-up mandate caution in interpretation of these results, especially in Zambia. More women progressed to autonomous NFP use in Liberia (58%) than in Zambia (35·3%). However, programme costs per couple-year protection were lower in Zambia (US$25·7) than in Liberia (US$47·1). Costs per couple-year protection were higher during learning than autonomy, and declined over time. These studies suggest that NFP programmes can achieve acceptable use-and cost-effectiveness in Africa.

In a recent analysis, Illsley, Le Grand & Mullings argued that, over the years 1931–87, regional inequalities in mortality in Britain effectively disappeared for most age groups. The present study reanalyses their data, breaking regional life tables down into their two major components, the level of survivorship, and the shape of the mortality curve. It is shown that whereas there has been a consistent decline in regional inequalities in the level of mortality, there has not been a comparable convergence in the shape of the mortality curves. These shape differences, implaying premature adult mortality, are now the major source of variation among the regions.

Two samples of births were used to examine the effect of son preference and population policy on sex ratios in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces of China. The results from all births to women aged 15–49 in the 1985 In-Depth Fertility Survey indicated a strong son preference but no clear policy impact on sex ratios at different birth orders. In a sample of selected births during 1975–84 to women aged 40 or under, the mixed influences of son preference and population policy were clearly reflected in the high and rising overall ratios at birth, and the increasing sex ratios with parity. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Twenty-three girls and thirteen boys, aged between 4 and 9 years, gave urine samples which were measured by HPLC for adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol and cortisone on a school day and on a home day. Home levels of noradrenaline, cortisol and cortistone were consistently higher than school levels. Cortisol was positively correlated with adrenaline and noradrenaline at home, but not at school. These results may suggest that the school day represents a stimulating but comparatively structured environment with little negative affect, while the home day is characterised by stimulation but relative uncertainty in social interactions.

The consequences of different birth intervals on dietary energy requirements and dependency ratios at different stages of the family lifecycle are modelled for Gambian agriculturalists and !Kung hunter–gatherers. Energy requirements reach a peak at between 20 and 30 years after starting a family for the Gambians, and between 15 and 20 years for the !Kung. For the Gambians, shorter birth interval of 30 months. For the !Kung, the lack of participation in subsistence activities by children gives an output:input ratio in excess of that reported in other studies, suggesting that they are in a state of chronic energy deficiency.

In a sample of 311 couples from the Afroamerican community of Bluefields, Eastern Nicaragua, the distribution of matrimonial distance shows a deviation from the leptokurtic rule. This results from assortative mating among the population.

This study reports on the relative influences of parental attainment and cognitive ability and subjects’ own cognitive ability, personality, and social attitudes on the educational and occupational attainments and incomes of 183 Generation 3 subjects of Caucasian ancestry and 186 of Japanese ancestry originally tested in 1972–76 in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition (HFSC) and re-tested in 1987–88. In contrast to earlier reports of sex differences in the influence of Generation 2 attainment and on Generation 3 attainment when these offspring were younger, family background had a trivial influence and own cognitive ability had a substantial influence on educational attainment for both racial/ethnic groups and both sexes. For income, however, own cognitive ability was only a significant predictor for male subjects. Within-family correlational analyses also supported this sex difference in influences on attainment.

Chinese-American and Anglo-American school children were compared on a nonverbal test of intelligence (Raven's Progressive Matrices) and on twelve chronometric variables which measure the speed with which basic information processes (e.g. stimulus apprehension, decision, and discrimination) can be carried out. All of these tasks are correlated with psychometric intelligence. The two groups differed significantly on most of the variables, but the differences appear to be multidimensional and are not simply due to a group difference in psychometric intelligence, equivalent to about 5 IQ points in favour of the Chinese-Americans. The results are compared with those of Lynn and his colleagues on British, Japanese, and Hong Kong children, and both consistencies and inconsistencies are found.