No description available.

<p>Contraception is said to be one of the vital determinants of fertility (Bongaarts, 1978). African nations, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa have a history of high fertility levels and low contraceptive use. However, contraceptive methods have been used one way or another throughout human history, although, due to improvements, these methods have evolved over the years. In Namibia, there tend to be a huge gap between women&rsquo / s knowledge of methods of contraception and usage thereof. For instance as per NDHS survey of 2000, 97 percent of married women knew of a contraceptive method, while 38 percent utilised them. This study aims at investigating knowledge and usage of contraceptives among women in union of reproductive age in an independent Namibia, 10 years after independence between 1992 and 2000. Socio-economic and demographic factors affecting contraceptive usage are examined in this study to determine their significance.</p>

<p>Health security is increasingly being seen as integral to any poverty reduction strategy. Health is viewed not only as an end in itself but also as an indispensable input into the development process because there is a positive link between health and development. Of all the risks facing poor households, health risks probably pose the greatest threat to their lives and livelihoods. Against this background, this research examines the vital subject of participation in mutual health insurance as a poverty reduction strategy at the rural community level. It has been accepted that community-based initiatives play important roles in improving poor people s risk-sharing arrangements. The extent to which these community-based initiatives are able to address the problem of social exclusion in local communities is far from being clear.</p>

<p>The aim of this study was to describe the demographic and socio-economic factors influencing infant feeding practices in the Amathola district, South Africa. A survey was chosen as the design method and a structured questionnaire was used to collect information regarding the socio-economic and demographic factors and related infant feeding choices. The study population consisted of 100 women with infants up to the age of 14 weeks, who brought their infant for immunization at the selected community health clinic (the largest clinic in the Mdantsane area). Infants up to the age of 14 weeks were used because all the visits up to 14 weeks coincide with the local immunization program, and according to WHO guidelines all infants should be exclusively breastfed until they reach the age of 6 months of age. The study found that there are many families in the Mdantsane area that suffer from poor conditions and inadequate services such as a lack of electricity, working taps or flush toilets within their dwelling, which in turn has an impact on infant feeding practices. It was found that even in poor demographic and socio-economic conditions, formula feeding is still the chosen feeding practice for the majority of mothers.</p>

No description available.

<p>In three distinct but related chapters, this dissertation explores the causes and consequences of an important trend in American religion -- the concentration of people into very large churches. I undertake a systematic examination of historical materials to excavate the origins of the modern Protestant megachurch and find its genesis lies in the beginnings of the Reformation, not in the late twentieth century as commonly argued. I then turn to study the consequences of this shift, using data from the combined National Congregations Study and U.S. General Social Survey. I uncover a significant negative relationship between congregation size and the probability of attendance. These results provide convincing evidence in support of the theory that social interaction and group cohesion lies at the heart of the size-participation relationship. Finally, I use zero-inflated regression models to examine the relationship between size and the socio-economic status composition of the church. My analyses reveal a negative relationship between size and low household income. Larger congregations contain a larger proportion of regular adult participants living in high income households and possessing college degrees, and a smaller proportion of people living in low income households. In congregations located in relatively poor census tracts, the relationship between high socio-economic status (SES) and congregation size remains significant. This research offers important correctives that help situate megachurches in the United States in their proper context. It provides important insights into how the shift of churchgoers into large congregations may concentrate power in these organizations and reduce overall rates of attendance.</p> / Dissertation

Alkohol är en del av vardagen för många svenskar idag. När denna konsumtion övergår till ett missbruk uppstår det problem för individen och för samhället som stort. I denna studie har författarna genomfört en Cost of Illness studie för att beräkna samhällskostnaderna för alkoholmissbruket inom Hammarö kommun.Resultatet visar att kostnaden för samhället som helhet, för detta missbruk uppgår till 29 434 297 SEK, år 2013. Den största kostnadsbäraren är staten med sina 15 967 819 SEK av den totala kostnaden. Kommunen står för 10 230 270 SEK av den totala kostnaden. Den tredje största kostnadsbäraren är det privata som bär 2 837 355 SEK av kostnaden. Landstinget bär 1 868 182 SEK av den totala kostnaden. / Alcohol is a daily part of the Swedish society today. This consumption is usually not a problem, but when the consumption transforms from a healthy dosage to a hazardous one, problem appears for both the individual affected and the society as a whole. This is a study that tries to estimate the economic costs of alcohol abuse within the municipality of Hammarö.The results shows that the total socio-economic costs of alcoholic use and abuse rises to 29 434 297 SEK for the year 2013. The largest bearer of the costs is the state with 15 967 819 SEK. The second largest bearer is the municipality of Hammarö with 10 230 270 SEK. Next comes the costs that affects the private sector of the society with a total of 2 837 355 SEK. The county of Värmland then follows with 1 868 182 SEK for the year of 2013.

Background: While substantial progress has been made globally towards achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) on child mortality, the decline is not sufficient to reach the targets set for 2015. The South Asian region, which includes India, was to achieve the MDG 4 target of 39 deaths per 1000 live births by 2015 but was estimated to have reached only 61 by 2011. A part of this under-achievement is due to the gender-differentials in child mortality in South-Asia. The inherent biological advantage of girls, reflected inlower mortality rates as compared to boys globally, is neutralized by their sociocultural disadvantage in India. The availability of technology for prenatal sex determination has promoted sex-linked abortions. Current government efforts include a law that regulates the use of ultrasound and other diagnostic techniquesfor prenatal testing of sex and a conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme thatinvests a certain amount of funds at the birth of a girl child to attain maturity when the girl turns 18 years of age. This thesis describes the trends in genderspecific mortality during the period 1992-2011 and gender differentials in causes of death among children (paper I), compares gender differentials in child survivalby socio-economic status of the family (paper II), explores the contribution of non-specific effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination to the excess mortality among girls (paper III), and evaluates the impact of CCT schemes of the government and explores community attitudes and practices related to discrimination of girls (paper IV). Methods and Results: This study is set in Ballabgarh Health and DemographicSurveillance System (HDSS) of Haryana State in North India that covered a population of 88,861 across 28 villages in 2011. This study uses the electronic database that houses all individuals enumerated in the HDSS for the period 1992-2011 along with other demographic, socio-economic and health utilization variables. Sex ratio at birth (SRB) was adverse for girls throughout the study period, varying between 821 to 866 girls per 1000 boys. Overall, under-five mortality rates during the period 1992-2011 remained stagnant due to the increasing neonatal mortality rate and decreasing mortality in subsequent age groups. Mortality rates among girls were 1.6 to 2 times higher than boys during the post-neonatal period (1-11 months) as well as in the 1-4 year age group. Girls reported significantly higher mortality rates due to prematurity (relative risk of 1.52; 95% CI = 1.01-2.29); diarrhoea (2.29;1.59-3.29), and malnutrition (3.37; 2.05-5.53) during 2002-2007. The SRB and neonatal mortality rate were consistently adverse for girls in the advantaged groups. In the 1-36 month age group, girl children had higher mortality than boys in all SES groups. The age at vaccination for and coverage with ivabstractBacillus Calmette–Guérin, DTP, polio and measles vaccines did not differ by sex. There was significant excess mortality among girls as compared to boys in the period after immunization with DTP, for both primary (hazard ratio of 1.65; 95% CI 1.17-2.32) and DTPb (2.21; 1.24-3.93) vaccinations until the receipt of the next vaccine. No significant excess mortality among girls was noted after exposure to BCG (1.06; 0.67-1.67) or measles (1.34; 0.85-2.12) vaccine. A community survey showed poor awareness of specific government schemes for girl children. Four-fifths of the community wanted government to help families with girl children financially. In-depth interviews of government programme implementers revealed the themes of “conspiracy of silence” that was being maintained by general population, underplaying of the pervasiveness of the problem coupled with a passive implementation of the programme and “a clash between politicians trying to cash in on the public sentiment of need for subsidies for girl children and a bureaucratic approachof accountability which imposed lot of conditionalities and documentations to access these benefits”. While there has been some improvement in investment in girl children for immunization and education during the period 1992 to 2010, these were also seen among boys of the same houses and daughters in-laws who come from outside the state where such schemes are not in place. Conclusions: In the study area, girl children continue to be disadvantaged a tall periods in their childhood including in utero. In the short run, empowerment of individuals by education and increasing wealth without a concomitant change in culture of son-preference is harmful as it promotes the use of sex determination technology and female feticide to achieve desired family size and composition. There is a need to carefully review the use of health-enhancing technologies including vaccines so that they do not cause more harm to society. Current government efforts to address the gender imbalance are not working, as these are not rooted in a larger social context.

<p>Background: Previous research suggests that early life socioeconomic stress and certain genetic polymorphisms may be partly associated with increased adiposity; however, research on both genetic and environmental predictors fail to account for the dramatic increase in obesity over that last several decades. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that a GxE interaction between DRD2-related SNPs and parental education would predict trunk and total fat mass. This same interaction would also predict total calories from a 24-hour diet recall, which would mediate its effect on trunk and total fat mass. Sample: The current study analyzed genetic and psychosocial data from 697 participants collected for the Family Heart Study, an investigation examining the relationship between psychosocial behaviors and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: Interactions were assessed between four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the D2 receptor and ANKK1 genes and tertiles of parental education predicting DXA-scan-measured trunk and total body fat mass. A measure of total calories, as assessed by a 24-hour diet recall, was tested as a mediator of this effect. Results: An interaction between mother's education and RS1116313 SNP predicted trunk fat (F(4,191)=2.94, p=0.022) and total body fat (F(4, 191)=3.94, p=0.004). The effects were driven by a reduction in trunk and total fat mass among C/C or T/T homozygotes with a high mother's education, which was not observed among C/T heterozygotes. Father's education was neither an interactive nor a main effect predictor in any models. Interactions predicting total calories were also non-significant, and no support for mediation was found. Post-hoc analyses revealed that leisure activity was also not a mediator. Alternatively, certain dietary components were predicted by the interactions between mother's education and RS1124492 and between mother's education and RS1800498. Conclusions: Trunk and total body fat composition are predicted by an interaction between mother's education and the RS1116313 SNP. This effect does not appear to be mediated by total calories or leisure activity. Other SNPs associated with the D2 receptor interact with mother's education to predict dietary components.</p> / Dissertation

Health security is increasingly being seen as integral to any poverty reduction strategy. Health is viewed not only as an end in itself but also as an indispensable input into the development process because there is a positive link between health and development. Of all the risks facing poor households, health risks probably pose the greatest threat to their lives and livelihoods. Against this background, this research examines the vital subject of participation in mutual health insurance as a poverty reduction strategy at the rural community level. It has been accepted that community-based initiatives play important roles in improving poor people s risk-sharing arrangements. The extent to which these community-based initiatives are able to address the problem of social exclusion in local communities is far from being clear. / Masters in Public Administration - MPA