No evidence that polygynous marriage is a harmful cultural practice in northern Tanzania

Polygyny is cross-culturally common and a topic of considerable academic and policy interest, often deemed a harmful cultural practice serving the interests of men contrary to those of women and children. Supporting this view, large-scale studies of national African demographic surveys consistently demonstrate that poor child health outcomes are concentrated in polygynous households. Negative population-level associations between polygyny and well-being have also been reported, consistent with the hypothesis that modern transitions to socially imposed monogamy are driven by cultural group selection. We challenge the consensus view that polygyny is harmful, drawing on multilevel data from 56 ethnically diverse Tanzanian villages. We first demonstrate the vulnerability of aggregated data to confounding between ecological and individual determinants of health; while across villages polygyny is associated with poor child health and low food security, such relationships are absent or reversed within villages, particularly when children and fathers are coresident. We then provide data indicating that the costs of sharing a husband are offset by greater wealth (land and livestock) of polygynous households. These results are consistent with models of polygyny based on female choice. Finally, we show that village-level negative associations between polygyny prevalence, food security, and child health are fully accounted for by underlying differences in ecological vulnerability (rainfall) and socioeconomic marginalization (access to education). We highlight the need for improved, culturally sensitive measurement tools and appropriate scales of analysis in studies of polygyny and other purportedly harmful practices and discuss the relevance of our results to theoretical accounts of marriage and contemporary population policy.

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Emerging Opportunities Provided by Technology to Advance Research in Child Health Globally

Global Pediatric Health ◽

10.1177/2333794x20917570 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 2333794X2091757

Author(s):

Alastair van Heerden ◽

Jukka Leppanen ◽

Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus ◽

Carol M. Worthman ◽

Brandon A. Kohrt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Child Health ◽

Affective Computing ◽

Population Level ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Well Being ◽

Longitudinal Assessment ◽

Health And Development ◽

Advance Research ◽

Development Goals ◽

The Media

Current approaches to longitudinal assessment of children’s developmental and psychological well-being, as mandated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are expensive and time consuming. Substantive understanding of global progress toward these goals will require a suite of new robust, cost-effective research tools designed to assess key developmental processes in diverse settings. While first steps have been taken toward this end through efforts such as the National Institutes of Health’s Toolbox, experience-near approaches including naturalistic observation have remained too costly and time consuming to scale to the population level. This perspective presents 4 emerging technologies with high potential for advancing the field of child health and development research, namely (1) affective computing, (2) ubiquitous computing, (3) eye tracking, and (4) machine learning. By drawing attention of scientists, policy makers, investors/funders, and the media to the applications and potential risks of these emerging opportunities, we hope to inspire a fresh wave of innovation and new solutions to the global challenges faced by children and their families.

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A rapid appraisal of causes of child death in community settings in district Bhopal

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20184002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (10) ◽

pp. 4515

Author(s):

Devendra Gour ◽

Manju Toppo ◽

Veena Melwani ◽

Amreen Khan ◽

Pradeep Dohare ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Child Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Neonatal Period ◽

Child Death ◽

Well Being ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Current Status ◽

Poor Child ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Child Deaths

Background: Child mortality is considered as a core indicator for child health and well-being. SRS (December 2016) has shown that maximum IMR is in Madhya Pradesh which is 50 per 1000 live births and U5MR is 77 per 1000 live birth (2011). The study was carried out with the objectives to list out and categorize medical as well as socio-economic factors associated with these deaths and to evaluate the current status of child deaths in terms of the provision of health services and gaps in planning and execution of these services.Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 42 deaths which occurred in Home settings in Bhopal District. A team visited the identified household and conducted in depth interview regarding the entire event related to antenatal care, place of delivery, intranatal and postnatal care, accessibility of the health services and quality of care rendered that contributed to poor child health that resulted in the death of the child.Results: Out of 42 child deaths covered, 23 took place in the neonatal period, of which 21 were home deaths. 47.61% were attended by trained birth attendant. Breastfeeding was started immediately in 94.11% neonates whereas 5.88% were breastfed second day or later. 19 deaths took place in the post neonatal period, of which 17 were home deaths. (68.75%) were breast fed immediately within one hour of birth.Conclusions: A majority of home based child deaths are occurring in families with high illiteracy rates and those belonging to BPL families.

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Implementing Vertical Farming at University Scale to Promote Sustainable Communities: A Feasibility Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10124429 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 4429 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

He Zhang ◽

Ashish Asutosh ◽

Wei Hu

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Large Scale ◽

Well Being ◽

Feasibility Analysis ◽

University Campuses ◽

Vertical Farming ◽

The People ◽

Comprehensive Framework ◽

The University

The issue of food security has affected the well-being of the people for centuries. Academic and industry experts have been constantly developing alternate and better ways to address this issue. One of such innovations is the concept of vertical and zero acreage farming for providing food security and ensuring environmental sustainability. However, this concept has been in its nascent stage, and its development has been sporadic for many years. This paper uses a comprehensive framework to conduct a feasibility analysis of initiating vertical farming on university campuses, which could set an example for using this technique on a large scale. A case study was conducted on a set of 24 canteens across a university in Wuhan, China for accessing the return on investment and food sufficiency using this technique. By using the central limit theorem, a model was developed after investing in 24 canteens in the university, and various scenarios were analyzed. The breakeven on implementing these farms was about 10 to 20 years, with annual profits reaching $92,000 (592,000 RMB).

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Large-Scale Societal Dynamics are Reflected in Human Mood and Brain

10.21203/rs.3.rs-847190/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Lebedev ◽

Christoph Abe ◽

Kasim Acar ◽

Gustavo Deco ◽

Morten L. Kringelbach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phase Transitions ◽

Stock Market ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Level ◽

Information Criterion ◽

Well Being ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Size Estimation ◽

Stock Market Index ◽

Effect Size Estimation

Abstract The stock market is a bellwether of socio-economic changes that may directly affect individual well-being. Using large-scale UK-biobank data generated over 14 years, we applied specification curve analysis to rigorously identify significant associations between the local stock market index (FTSE100) and 479,791 UK residents’ mood, as well as their alcohol intake and blood pressure adjusting the results for a large number of potential confounders, including age, sex, linear and non-linear effects of time, research site, other stock market indexes. Furthermore, we found similar associations between FTSE100 and volumetric measures of affective brain regions in a subsample (n = 39,755; measurements performed over 5.5 years), which were particularly strong around phase transitions characterized by maximum volatility in the market. The main findings did not depend on applied effect-size estimation criteria (linear methods or mutual information criterion) and were replicated in two independent US-based studies (Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative; n = 424; performed over 2,5 years and MyConnectome; n = 1; 81 measurements over 1,5 years). Our results suggest that phase transitions in the society, indexed by stock market, exhibit close relationships with human mood, health and the affective brain from an individual to population level.

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A Pan-Canadian Data Resource for Monitoring Child Developmental Health: The Canadian Neighbourhoods Early Child Development (CanNECD) Database

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v3i3.431 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Magdalena Janus ◽

Jennifer Enns ◽

Barry Forer ◽

Rob Raos ◽

Ashley Gaskin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Child Development ◽

Social Determinants ◽

Neighborhood Effects ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Level ◽

Well Being ◽

Early Child Development ◽

Early Child ◽

Developmental Health

The Canadian Neighbourhoods Early Child Development (CanNECD) database is a unique resource for research on child developmental health and well-being within the socioeconomic and cultural context of Canadian neighbourhoods. This paper describes the CanNECD database and highlights its potential for advancing research at the intersection of child development, social determinants of health, and neighborhood effects. The CanNECD database contains Pan-Canadian population-level child developmental health data collected through regional implementation of the Early Development Instrument (EDI), geo-coded information on residential neighbourhoods covering all of Canada, and socioeconomic and demographic variables from the Canada Census and Income Taxfiler database. The data are de-identified but linkable across datasets through use of common numeric sequences. The nearly 800,000 records spanning 2003-2014 and representing all Canadian provinces and territories (with the exception of Nunavut) are compiled in a secure electronic collection system at the Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Early studies using the EDI demonstrated its utility as a tool for assessing child developmental health at a population level, and its potential for both community-level and large-scale monitoring of child populations. Research using the CanNECD database is now examining to what extent social determinants and the steepness of the social gradients of developmental health differ between geographical jurisdictions and between different sub-populations. We are also working to identify outlier neighbourhoods in which EDI scores are substantially higher or lower than predicted by a neighbourhood’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and exploring other potentially important determinants of children’s developmental health. Finally, we are examining the extent to which change-over-time in aggregate EDI scores vary geographically, and how well it coincides with changes in socioeconomic factors. Thus, the CanNECD database offers the opportunity for research that will inform national policies and strategies on child developmental health.

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Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24365-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Adam Hampshire ◽

Peter J. Hellyer ◽

Eyal Soreq ◽

Mitul A. Mehta ◽

Konstantinos Ioannidis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

United Kingdom ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Technology Use ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Level ◽

Well Being ◽

Holistic View ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Health And Well Being

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples’ perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic’s impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Debate on the linkages between large-scale agriculture and farmers food security: Examples from Ethiopia

Human Geography ◽

10.1177/19427786211019186 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 194277862110191

Author(s):

Gezahegn Abebe

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Crop Production ◽

Large Scale ◽

Social Protection ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Consumer Price Index ◽

National Level ◽

Well Being ◽

Small Scale ◽

Directed Development

This article critically contributes to the debate on private large-scale agriculture for export crop production as a means to address the problem of food security in Ethiopia. The reviewed literature was identified by combining relevant keywords. The consumer price index and rainfall pattern, food gaps and affected population were calculated and presented using Microsoft Excel software. The paper argues that although private large-scale agriculture has opportunities in terms of employment generation, income and national-level growth, it poses risks to small-scale farmers’ food security. Loss of access to agricultural land and exposure to market risks endanger their food and livelihood security. The analysis suggests that both large-scale and small-scale agriculture is not a viable means to effectively reduce Ethiopia’s complex food insecurity and hunger. Improving food production for local consumption through transforming small-scale farms to medium-sized labour-intensive farms coupled with investment in manufacturing and building social protection through the adoption of well-intentioned state-directed development interventions that care about the well-being of individuals and households is needed.

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Immigrant Youth in Germany

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000154 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 158-168 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Emily Frankenberg ◽

Katharina Kupper ◽

Ruth Wagner ◽

Stephan Bongard

Keyword(s):

School System ◽

Large Scale ◽

Age Groups ◽

Well Being ◽

Ethnic Discrimination ◽

Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽

Sociocultural Adaptation ◽

Age Related ◽

German School ◽

Transcultural Adaptation

This paper reviews research on young migrants in Germany. Particular attention is given to the question of how Germany’s history of migration, immigration policies, and public attitude toward migrants influence the transcultural adaptation of children and adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds. We combine past research with the results of new empirical studies in order to shed light on migrants’ psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Studies comparing young migrants and their German peers in terms of psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health outcome suggest higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems among migrants of most age groups. With regard to adolescent populations between the ages of 14 and 17 years, however, the existence of differences between migrants and natives appears to be less clear. Research has also yielded inconsistent findings regarding the time trajectory of transcultural adaptation among adolescents. The coincidence of acculturation and age-related change is discussed as a possible source of these inconsistencies. Further, we provide an overview of risk and protective factors such as conflicting role expectations and ethnic discrimination, which may cause heightened vulnerability to adverse adaptation outcomes in some groups. Large-scale studies have repeatedly shown migrants of all age groups to be less successful within the German school system, indicating poor sociocultural adaptation. Possible explanations, such as the idiosyncrasies of the German school system, are presented. Our own studies contribute to the understanding of young migrants’ adaptation process by showing that it is their orientation to German culture, rather than the acculturation strategy of integration, that leads to the most positive psychological and sociocultural outcomes. The paper concludes by discussing implications for future cross-cultural research on young migrants and by suggesting recommendations for multicultural policies.

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