Acfie Life History: Tlie Ecology and Demography of a Foraging People

Acfie Life History: Tlie Ecology and Demography of. Foraging People. Kim Hill and A. Magdalena Hurtado. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1996. 561 pp.     

Factors Likely to Affect Community Acceptance of a Malaria Vaccine in Two Districts of Ghana: A Qualitative Study

Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children in Ghana. As part of the effort to inform local and national decision-making in preparation for possible malaria vaccine introduction, this qualitative study explored community-level factors that could affect vaccine acceptance in Ghana and provides recommendations for a health communications strategy. The study was conducted in two purposively selected districts: the Ashanti and Upper East Regions. A total of 25 focus group discussions, 107 in-depth interviews, and 21 semi-structured observations at Child Welfare Clinics were conducted. Malaria was acknowledged to be one of the most common health problems among children. While mosquitoes were linked to the cause and bed nets were considered to be the main preventive method, participants acknowledged that no single measure prevented malaria. The communities highly valued vaccines and cited vaccination as the main motivation for taking children to Child Welfare Clinics. Nevertheless, knowledge of specific vaccines and what they do was limited. While communities accepted the idea of minor vaccine side effects, other side effects perceived to be more serious could deter families from taking children for vaccination, especially during vaccination campaigns. Attendance at Child Welfare Clinics after age nine months was limited. Observations at clinics revealed that while two different opportunities for counseling were offered, little attention was given to addressing mothers’ specific concerns and to answering questions related to child immunization. Positive community attitudes toward vaccines and the understanding that malaria prevention requires a comprehensive approach would support the introduction of a malaria vaccine. These attitudes are bolstered by a well-established child welfare program and the availability in Ghana of active, flexible structures for conveying health information to communities. At the same time, it would be important to improve the quality of Child Welfare Clinic services, particularly in relation to communication around vaccination.     

Socioeconomic Predictors of Cognition in Ugandan Children: Implications for Community Interventions

Background

Several interventions to improve cognition in at risk children have been suggested. Identification of key variables predicting cognition is necessary to guide these interventions. This study was conducted to identify these variables in Ugandan children and guide such interventions.

Methods

A cohort of 89 healthy children (45 females) aged 5 to 12 years old were followed over 24 months and had cognitive tests measuring visual spatial processing, memory, attention and spatial learning administered at baseline, 6 months and 24 months. Nutritional status, child''s educational level, maternal education, socioeconomic status and quality of the home environment were also measured at baseline. A multivariate, longitudinal model was then used to identify predictors of cognition over the 24 months.

Results

A higher child''s education level was associated with better memory (p = 0.03), attention (p = 0.005) and spatial learning scores over the 24 months (p = 0.05); higher nutrition scores predicted better visual spatial processing (p = 0.002) and spatial learning scores (p = 0.008); and a higher home environment score predicted a better memory score (p = 0.03).

Conclusion

Cognition in Ugandan children is predicted by child''s education, nutritional status and the home environment. Community interventions to improve cognition may be effective if they target multiple socioeconomic variables.     

Status and Power in Classic Maya Society: An Archeological Study

This article uses archeological data to examine how social relations allocate economic and political power in ancient complex societies. Based on recent excavations in the Copan Valley, Honduras, the socioeconomic organization of the basic residential group is reconstructed and the existence of a pervasive social hierarchy demonstrated. I argue that during the Late and Terminal Classic periods, the Maya were organized into a series of internally ranked and externally stratified status lineages (Goldman 1970) that structured social, economic, and political relationships.     

Socioeconomic and seasonal variations in births: A replication

Many studies, but not all, suggest that immigrant health worsens with duration of residence in the United States. Cohort effects may explain the inconsistent findings; not only are cohort effects confounded with duration, but the timing of entry into the United States may also create qualitatively different migration experiences. The present study tests for duration and cohort patterns among Asian immigrants to the United States across six year-of-entry cohorts (pre-1980, 1981–85, 1986–90, 1991–95, 1996–2000, 2001–05). Data come from the Asian American sample (n = 44,002) of the 1994–2009 waves of the National Health Interview Survey. The data show cohort differences for self-rated health, such that more recent cohorts showed improved baseline health compared to older cohorts. After accounting for cohorts, there was no significant change in self-rated health by duration of residence. Older cohorts actually showed improving self-rated health with longer duration. Obesity showed the opposite pattern; there were no differences across cohorts, but duration in the United States correlated with higher obesity. These results imply that immigrant health is not simply an issue of duration and adaptation; instead, they underscore the utility of considering cohorts as broader contexts of migration. Collectively, the results encourage future research that more carefully examines the etiological mechanisms that drive immigrant health.