Multiple faces of the health transition

The present study is an effort to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among women, with special reference to their economic condition in urban India. An exclusive wealth index for urban India was constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) for the analysis of overweight and obesity variations among women of different economic background in urban India. The study found very high prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban areas, more noticeably among non-poor women. Further result shows that prevalence of overweight and obesity increases with age, education, media exposure and parity of women. However, for all covariates, the non-poor women have considerable higher proportion of overweight and obesity than women of poor families in urban India. The multinomial logistic regression result also shows that non-poor women are 2 and 2.6 times more on risk of being overweight and obesity respectively than their poor counterparts. Education, marital status and media exposure also shows significant and positive association with overweight and obesity status in urban India. Thus, the growing demand which is appearing now before the health planners in particular is that, to address this rising urban epidemiology with equal importance along with other prevailing issues.

Numerous population- and individual-level studies have confirmed a strong relationship between excessive alcohol consumption and striking excess male mortality in the countries of the former USSR. Yet the complex interplay between macro- and micro-level factors underlying this relationship has remained underexplored. Our analysis refers to the most recent period, and focuses on the male population aged 20-64. Using the detailed cause-specific mortality at the district level we first explore a spatial distribution of alcohol-related mortality in the two neighboring countries, Belarus and Lithuania. Then, using the simultaneous autoregressive models we assess the strength of association between mortality and its potential determinants. As independent explanatory macro-level variables we consider a set of indicators available from the adjacent population censuses such as unemployment, education, marital status, and ethnicity. The preliminary results show that the districts located at the Belarus-Lithuania border show similar patterns and form large cross-border areas with elevated alcohol-related mortality. Although mortality variation is likely to be largely explained by differences in the contemporary socioeconomic conditions, the observed spatial patterns suggest the relevance of the common socio-cultural context.

Demographers are still trying to find a way of modelling the relationship between mortality and age. So far the Gompertz-Makeham function was for a long time universally used for extrapolating mortality curves. But at present it is important to develop new models. This is mainly the fact that there is an improvement in mortality. More and more people live to old age. The second reason is better availability of statistical data. As a result of improving mortality of the oldest persons and better statistical data many new models have emerged. Currently, come to the fore logistic models. In this paper we will present selected logistic models and we will apply them to the data on mortality of the Czech population. The results will be compared with the methodology of the Czech Statistical Office and life expectancy obtained from the mortality tables without extrapolation.

The probability of death and with it the hope of survival depended in the past to a considerable extent on the level of advancement of the health service, the medical findings acquired and knowledge of the appropriate treatment processes. In the case of persons with Celiac Disease, which is a disease involving gluten intolerance, the hope of survival in the majority of countries was slim until the eighties of last century. These people died at a very young age thanks to ignorance of the diagnosis of their disease. However, as soon as it was possible to determine the diagnosis of Celiac Disease correctly there was a considerable breakthrough and progress rapidly changed the hope of survival for these people. In this way treatment procedures were found for hitherto unknown diseases, or at least there was information on reducing the consequences of these diseases. The submitted study will provide a look at the alternative assessment of the prob. of death of persons with Celiac Disease and the prob. of death in general. The modelling of the prob. of death of persons with Celiac Disease and persons in the general population is possible with the use of the LOGIT & PROBIT. On the basis of supplementary information about the population it’s then possible to construct various prob. scenarios with the utilisation of alternative variables.

This study follows about 500 disabled individuals over life to examine their survival chances in past society and in comparison to a control cohort of non-disabled people. The aim is to detect whether those with disabilities were markedly stigmatized and thus faced difficulties in life, which we in accordance with the labeling theme of secondary deviance assume would be indicated by high levels of mortality. We make use of Sweden’s 19th-century parish registers (digitized by the Demographic Data Base, Umeå University) to identify people who the ministers defined as disabled and to construct the control cohort. Then we employ bi-variate analyses and run multivariate regression models. The statistical results suggest that disability significantly jeopardized the survival of individuals but was not the only key to their mortality, because gender determined the survival of disabled, too. Disability limited men’s life expectancy more evidently than the women’s. Our findings are rare in providing statistical evidence of disabled individuals’ experiences beyond institutional life and because we seek to measure the level of labeling in their life. The death differentials demonstrate that the disabled constituted a disadvantaged but heterogeneous collection of people whose demography and pathways must be further researched.

Objective We estimate increases in reproductive-age life expectancy (RALE) in select African countries over the past 20 years and the proportion of overall gains attributable to decreases in maternal mortality. Methods RALE is the average number of years that women at age 15 would be expected to live between 15 and 49 if current mortality situations prevail. Using multiple rounds of data from country-specific Demographic and Health Surveys, we calculate all-cause mortality and maternal-mortality eliminated life tables to estimate gains in RALE from the mid-1990s until present day. We will also estimate the proportion of RALE gains that arose as a result of declining maternal mortality and gains that could be garnered should maternal mortality be eliminated. Preliminary Results We estimate that gains in RALE from elimination of maternal mortality fluctuate between .15 and 1.5 years across countries. Elimination of maternal mortality makes up between 4% to 46% of potential gains in RALE if all mortality were eliminated. Conclusions Maternal mortality is a relatively rare event, yet it is still a very important component of RALE. Averting the burden of maternal deaths could return a significant increase in the most productive ages of human life.

Three recent studies, all using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), reached three different conclusions regarding the changing association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality in the US. This paper used the NHANES I and NHANES III data to examine mortality differences across BMI categories. The purpose is 1) to replicate previous analyses and reconcile discrepant findings in existing research and 2) to focus attention on variations across time periods and birth cohorts as well as variations across socio-demographic sub-populations. Preliminary results show that male and female BMI-related mortality differences are fairly similar in 1971-87, but diverge substantially afterwards. Relative to the normal-weight, mortality for almost all overweight and obese categories increases from 1971-87 to 1988-2006 among women. Relative mortality decreases over time among older men, but the decrease is substantial and significant for the class I obese only. These results caution against sweeping statements about BMI and mortality, and deserve the attention of those interested in the underlying mechanisms of the association and its implications for mortality trends.

Studying interplays between Socio-Demographic structures, food and nutrition has been a very essential part of demographic research. This study attempt to provide an understanding of the food consumption and nutritional patterns in Iran with respect to Socio-Demographic variables. The analyses are based on primary data from Household Earning and Income survey conducted by SCI in 2010. National Nutrition and Technology Research Institute in Iran decelerated that Food consumption pattern in Iran indicate that % 20 of people faced with the energy deficient, about 40 to 50 percent were deficient in calcium and vitamins A and B2 while about %40 of Iranian Households get over %120 required energy. During a decade (1985-1995) two types of development in urban and rural household food diet had been created. The first were changing in quantity of nitration diet and second was displacement between food baskets.
Generally speaking, results are indicate that food and nutrition diet patterns are different by household Socio-Demographic characteristics such as family and structure, type of residence, household with retiree person, household's income, head of household's education, employment status.

We analyzed the weight of Avoidable mortality (AM) in Mexico and its evolution between 2001-2010, taking into account the differences in degree of state marginalization, in gender and their contribution to the years of life lost (YLL). Data comes from the mortality registries from INEGI in Mexico and the marginalization index from CONAPO. We calculated the mortality rates and the YLL proposed by Arriaga using the AM criteria of Nolte and McKee. Mortality rates due to avoidable causes were higher for groups with the highest degree of marginalization. The poorest states lost more YLL between 2001-2010 due to these causes of death. Men had the highest mortality rates due to AM. Women increased their life-years, mainly due to the reduction of deaths due to cervical cancer, maternal deaths and perinatal deaths. These results show wide disparities in the magnitude and impact of AM by groups of state marginalization and gender.
Key words: avoidable mortality, state marginalization index, Mexico, mortality rates, years of life lost

During last two decades India has moderate reduction of child mortality which is an important measure of population health. It is frequently watched by demographers to determine how rapidly moving. However, most of its projection techniques are still based on conventional approach which ignores prior information. This suggests performing Bayesian analysis for projecting Indian child mortality rate to incorporate prior information. Our method of illustration includes dynamic linear models based on state space prior and known demographic information from National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data. In order to evaluate the accuracy of estimates, we compare our estimates with conventional estimates.