Life tables of birth intervals and median birth intervals in two Indian states, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala, were computed for several subgroups of the study population. Multivariate hazards modelling technique was used to examine the net effect of each of the variables studied. The results show a substantial effect of socioeconomic variables in child-spacing after controlling for the major intermediate variables.

This study used data from the 1984 Family History Survey conducted by Statistics Canada to examine recent trends and patterns of child-spacing among currently married women. Life table and proportional hazards estimates show that Canadian women, particularly those in younger age groups with higher education and longer work experience, start having children late, but have subsequent children rather quickly. This suggests that such women tend to complete childbearing within a compressed time period.

Adult mortality in Burundi during the 1970s and 1980s is estimated using data from the 1987 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Estimates from traditional indirect methods are compared with those from the inter-survey method using data on the number of years since the respondent's parent died. Life expectancy at birth was estimated as 48.55 years for males and 51·23 years for females.

This paper evaluates the influence of breast-feeding on infectious and allergic diseases in infants and children through an analysis of data from a large national sample of US children. It controls for a large number of maternal and child health, demographic, and socioeconomic variables which have been shown to affect feeding patterns, and it includes several aspects of the feeding pattern in addition to breast-feeding. The results suggest that breast-feeding provides some protection against pneumonia and otitis media in the United States while early introduction of formula may have a separate and negative effect.

This study examines effects and interactions of socioeconomic status, access to water supply and sanitation, and breast-feeding practices in relation to child growth in two provincial cities in the Philippines. Multivariate analysis identified food expenditure per head, education of the household head and gender of the child as significant predictors of nutritional status. The duration of partial and full breast-feeding was negatively (though non-significantly) associated with growth. Sanitation facilities and breast-feeding are, however, important determinants during the first year of life. Among children over 1 year of age, socioeconomic variables and gender are the most important predictors. Breast-feeding is shown to provide more important health benefits for children in lower income households. The need for further studies on the causes of gender differences in nutritional status was apparent.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.