Fostering relations: first sex and marital timings for children raised by kin and non-kin carers

Kinship fostering is generally preferred to non-kin fostering by policy makers in the U.S. and elsewhere. Researchers and policy makers alike tend to provide several proximate reasons for why this may be, generally neglecting an ultimate evolutionary framework. However, kin selection theory predicts that in the absence of genetically related parents, care from kin will result in the most similar life history outcomes. In low-fertility settings, parents typically favour increased investment in embodied capital and thus delayed reproductive life history strategy. Using archival data from the original Kinsey survey, collected in the U.S. from 1938 to 1963, we used survival analyses to compare the effects of living with kin and non-kin fosterers in childhood on timings of first sex and marriage. Our results support a kin selection hypothesis showing that while fostered children have accelerated life histories compared to children from “intact families”, kin fosterers buffer children from early sexual and reproductive behaviors, compared to children cared for by non-kin.     

Lactation and Menstruation in Cultural Perspective

The anthropological study of women should rest upon a sound understanding of women's reproductive heritage. Current research in reproductive physiology can contribute to this understanding, particularly with reference to the lactation period. In preindustrial societies as a rule, lactation is prolonged and intensive, while menstruation is correspondingly uncommon. This is related primarily to cultural factors that interact with the suckling frequency, but other factors may be involved. Industrialization and the propagation of western attitudes have been associated with a worldwide decline in lactation; an example from Taiwan is presented. The concept of the menstrual cycle as a liminal state is introduced, and anthropologists are urged to rethink their understanding of physiologic and symbolic womanhood . [reproductive physiology, lactation, menstruation, conception, Taiwan]     

Children's Hospital Admissions and Mother's Menstruation

Of 100 children''s emergency admissions to hospital nearly half (49%) were admitted during the mother''s paramenstruum. There was a statistically significant association between the mother''s menstruation and the child''s admission both for accidents and for illnesses. The eldest child in the family appeared to be most affected.     

Menstruation and control of diabetes.

Seventy per cent of the patients aged 45 years or under and suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis who were seen in one diabetic clinic over five years were women. The association of menstruation with ketoacidosis was assessed over two and a half years, and it was found that menstruation was associated with ketoacidosis more often than would be expected by chance (P less than 0-01). Two hundred women were interviewed and 76 observed that menstruation changed their diabetic control. Fifty-three found that control deteriorated and hyperglycaemia occurred, while 23 found that control improved and hypoglycaemia was a common problem. Menstruation appears to be an important factor in influencing control of diabetes. The mechanism of the changes observed has not yet been determined, but it seems to be a subject worthy of further investigation.     

Menstruation, perimenopause, and chaos theory

This article argues that menstruation, including the transition to menopause, results from a specific kind of complex system, namely, one that is nonlinear, dynamical, and chaotic. A complexity-based perspective changes how we think about and research menstruation-related health problems and positive health. Chaotic systems are deterministic but not predictable, characterized by sensitivity to initial conditions and strange attractors. Chaos theory provides a coherent framework that qualitatively accounts for puzzling results from perimenopause research. It directs attention to variability within and between women, adaptation, lifespan development, and the need for complex explanations of disease. Whether the menstrual cycle is chaotic can be empirically tested, and a summary of our research on 20- to 40-year-old women is provided.