A sample of 842 rural women from Morocco (Amizmiz, Marrakech) was used to examine the relationship between a number of biosocial variables and fertility patterns. For women still in their reproductive years there were significant correlations between family size and woman's age, age at marriage and years of marriage. Among women with completed families, those with early age at marriage ceased childbearing about 10 years before reaching menopause, while women who married later continued to bear children until the end of their fertile life.

This paper examines the sociodemographic factors which influence familiarity with methods of family planning among 85 males holding low paying jobs in the University of Zambia, Lusaka. The results showed that wife's education had a significant and positive effect on husband's familiarity with family planning methods. In the longer term, female education is likely to emerge as an important factor in the onset of fertility decline in Zambia.

Sixty-eight engaged couples, 113 newly weds, and 222 couples married for over 5 years, were studied for a number of physical, psychological and socioeconomic traits. The measurements were repeated a year later. Correlations were highest for age (r = 0·454, 0·903 and 0·888 respectively). They were also high for height (but not weight), neuroticism (but not extroversion), occupation, education, religion and smoking. Similarities were already present about the time of marriage, with little convergence or divergence. Thus, men do not grow to resemble their wives, nor vice versa.

This study examined the variation in weight, height and body mass index of 1048 mothers living in a rural area of Bangladesh in relation to age, education, number of previous pregnancies, number of dead children, religion, family type, family size, and amount of land owned by the household. Multiple regression analysis revealed a positive relationship of education with all three variables. Moslem mothers were on average in better condition than Hindus. The number of dead children showed a negative relationship with height, weight and body mass index.

Using data from the Demographic Health Survey for Ghana and Senegal, the influences of education and rural versus urban residence, and the difference between the two states on proportions married by various ages and on singulate mean age at marriage are investigated.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The study compares biological, socioeconomic and behavioural determinants of low birthweight in Cameroon and the United States. Some factors in low birthweight are found to be cross-national, but others are specific to the setting. Positive risk factors of low birthweight in both countries include unmarried motherhood, female sex, multiple births, and preterm births. Outcome of the previous pregnancy is a positive risk factor in the US, but not in Cameroon. Significant negative risk factors include prenatal care visits (in both countries), mother's education (in the US only), births to mothers aged 20–34 and birth orders of 2 or more (in Cameroon only). Separate analyses of all births and the subsamples of singleton births reveal that estimates for the two groups differ only marginally.

Genetic distances between all possible pairs of counties (n = 37) in the state of Lara, Venezuela were calculated using surname frequencies and the Euclidean distance as estimator. In general, Euclidean distances were smaller between counties closer together, and the product moment correlation between geographic and Euclidean distances was 0·49 (p < 0.02). The results suggest that, in Lara, geographic distance has been an important determinant of genetic structure, although topography and roadways also have had an important influence upon this structure.

Analysis of data on 106,848 marriages in the cities of Bangalore and Mysore, South India, between 1980 and 1989 showed that levels of consanguineous marriage varied between cities through time and by religion. The average coefficient of inbreeding was higher in Bangalore (F = 0·0339) than in Mysore (F = 0·0203), principally reflecting large-scale, post-Independence rural migration into Bangalore. Although there was some evidence of a decline in consanguineous marriages in Mysore, there was no convincing support in either city for earlier projections of a rapid reduction in the popularity of unions between close biological relatives.

Using a sample of 3080 women from Cebu, Philippines, interviewed immediately after childbirth and every 2 months thereafter for 2 years, the determinants of return to coitus are analysed. Eighty percent of the women returned to coitus before the return of menses, and 90% did so before stopping breast-feeding. In hazards models, variables associated with traditional life styles retarded return to coitus. Situational variables (husband resident, crowding, children aged 6 and under), especially husband residence, and biological variables (mother's age, return to menses, and lactation) were significant predictors of return to coitus. The implications of the analysis for the construction of models of birth interval dynamics are discussed.

Data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey have been used to examine breast-feeding patterns in the Metropolitan Cebu region of the Philippines. The results show that there is extensive and early use of non-nutritive liquids, resulting in low levels of exclusive breast-feeding. The use of cross-sectional versus longitudinal data, the definition of exclusive breast-feeding, and movements in and out of the exclusively breast-fed category, are considered.