Can stunted children recover after the first 1,000 days?
The food shortages during the Second World War in Japan had adverse consequences for child growth. However, Eric Schneider argues that the age and cohort pattern of the war shock … Read more
Health and mortality
Presence or absence of sickness, disabilities, and other impediments. Survival, measured both analytically (e.g. by age) or synthetically (e.g. life expectancy at birth)
America’s pandemic of the unvaccinated
The politicization of COVID-19 has changed America’s coronavirus pandemic from a serious public health concern into a major political issue and has contributed to vaccine avoidance. With many Americans declining … Read more
The death toll of COVID-19 in Mexico in 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on period life expectancy (LE) in Mexico in 2020 was strong, much stronger, for instance, than that of the 10-year war on drugs. Víctor M. García-Guerrero … Read more
A big challenge for the 21st century: will obesity cut the gains of longevity?
Two recent global phenomena appear to be working against each other: longevity and obesity. The rapid increase of the latter, in both developed and developing countries, may jeopardize the progress … Read more
Maternal education and infant mortality decline in Indonesia
Better maternal education has been credited with making a major contribution to infant mortality decline. However, previous studies have overestimated the contribution of better maternal education. Using individual-level data from … Read more
Closely spaced births reduce survival chances of existing and future children
Understanding the determinants of child health and mortality is an important step towards reducing child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Philippe Bocquier, Carren Ginsburg, Ashira Menashe-Oren, Yacouba Compaoré, and Mark Collinson … Read more
Global trends in child loss: less and later
Child loss continues to be a common life event for women in the Global South. Diego Alburez-Gutierrez documents a historic opportunity to close the gap between the South and the … Read more
Gendered health burdens and benefits of starting and ending caregiving
What happens to caregivers’ health when they stop caregiving? Damiano Uccheddu, Tom Emery, Nardi Steverink, and Anne H. Gauthier investigate the matter across 17 European countries with an innovative method … Read more
Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in health after age 50 in Europe
Does the impact of socioeconomic factors on health after midlife vary among women and men depending on the welfare context? Apparently it does: Damiano Uccheddu, Anne H. Gauthier, Nardi Steverink, … Read more
Longer lives, poorer health in England
Stephen Jivraj, Alissa Goodman, Benedetta Pongiglione and George Ploubidis find that, among working-age adults in England, later-born cohorts tend to have higher prevalence of various indicators of poor health and … Read more
COVID-19 pandemic: demographic highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has resulted in enormous consequences worldwide. Joseph Chamie highlights the pandemic’s impact on the components of population change: mortality, fertility and migration. … Read more
Are demographic indicators really converging in post transitional countries?
After the demographic transition, convergence in all demographic behaviours (moderate fertility, low mortality and very low migration) is the guiding assumption of the UN World Population Prospects Revisions. Maria Castiglioni, … Read more
From deprivation to neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in Bolivia
Filippo Temporin identifies three possible mechanisms whereby deprivation can affect neonatal and post-neonatal mortality. Using data from the 2008 Bolivia Demographic and Health Survey, however, he concludes that in a … Read more
Strong combined impact of smoking, obesity, and alcohol on survival improvements in Europe
Smoking, obesity and alcohol are considered key public health problems in Europe. Fanny Janssen, Sergi Trias-Llimós, and Anton Kunst show how changes over time in these three lifestyle factors have … Read more
Prevalence of chronic diseases associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 in the Philippines
The Philippines has the one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. Using the 2016 National Disability Prevalence Survey, Jeofrey B. Abalos describes the prevalence of chronic … Read more
How many people experience homelessness in Australia?
Homelessness is damaging to individuals and society – and an exceedingly difficult phenomenon for researchers and policy makers to measure and analyse. In this article, James O’Donnell describes a new … Read more
Comparing mortality variability between the United States and peer countries
Compared to other high-income countries, the United States has lower life expectancy and greater age-specific mortality variability, due in part to a higher concentration of deaths at young ages. Justin M. … Read more
More children linked to lower mortality in contemporary Norway, with exceptions
In Norway, as the number of children increases, mortality generally falls or remains almost constant. However, Øystein Kravdal notes an exception when it comes to cardiovascular disease mortality: for men who … Read more
The child health benefits of parents’ education in diverse African families
Does union status affect the intergenerational transmission of advantage? Using data from 30 African countries, Emily Smith-Greenaway examines whether the health advantages associated with parents’ education are comparable for childrenwith … Read more
Two centuries of change in the spatial inequality of mortality in France
Spatial inequalities in mortality decreased in France between 1881 and 1980 (“the century of convergence”), and life expectancy increased at national level. However, Florian Bonnet and Hippolyte d’Albis show that … Read more
Markedly lower child mortality in Malawi and Uganda with more educated mothers
Using data from Demographic and Health Surveys, Liliana Andriano and Christiaan Monden show that, everything else equal, each additional year of maternal schooling reduces children’s probability of dying before age … Read more
Missing twins and twin-singleton mortality convergence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Substantial literature documents that twins have higher mortality than singletons, but does not address whether this twin disadvantage eventually disappears, and if so, at what age. Roland Pongou, David Shapiro … Read more
Explaining disability trends in the United States, 1963-2015
Using the world’s longest running survey of health data, the National Health Interview Survey, Jona Schellekens shows that the decrease in mortality from cardiovascular disease in the US postponed the … Read more
Impact of obesity on life expectancy levels and trends in Europe
Since the 1980s, obesity prevalence has increased threefold in many European countries. Without obesity, life expectancy in 26 European countries in 2012 would have been, on average, 1.2 years higher … Read more
Longer birth intervals can reduce infant mortality in poor countries
Recent work on wealthy populations has called into question long-standing conclusions about the importance of birth spacing for infant health. Using data from 77 countries, Joseph Molitoris and colleagues show … Read more
Disparities in mortality and marriage create unequal kin safety nets in the USA
Heeju Sohn quantifies the diverging kin networks of adults with low and high socioeconomic status (SES) in the United States. In 2013, high SES adults had about 13 years with … Read more
Homicides in Latin America: a global health challenge
Homicide rates in Latin America are higher than elsewhere in the world, although with considerable variation within the region. In some countries, they are so high that they are significantly … Read more
Gender gaps in life expectancy and alcohol consumption in Eastern Europe
Female life expectancy is higher than that of males, and this gender gap is largest in Eastern Europe. Sergi Trias-Llimós and Fanny Janssen show that alcohol-attributable mortality explained more than … Read more
The ultimate inequality: vast mortality disparities across U.S. regions
The ultimate form of health inequality is death. Combining the concepts of region, division, and urban-rural residence in the U.S., Wesley James, Jeralynn Cossman, Julia Wolf highlight variation in mortality … Read more
Do adults in urban sub-Saharan Africa experience lower mortality?
Today, urban health conditions are often assumed to be universally superior to those of the rural sector. However, as Ashira Menashe-Oren and Guy Stecklov show, while child mortality is higher … Read more
Age, gender, alcohol, and traffic accidents in Brazil
According to the World Health Organization’s Global Report Status Report on Road Safety 2015, more than 1.2 million people die every year on the roads around the world, most of … Read more
Summertime, and the livin’ is easy … and longer
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy” — so begins one of the most famous American songs, Summertime from the Gershwin brothers’ Porgy and Bess. Is the living really easier in … Read more
Smoking inequalities in France and the United States
While public health officials worry about the distressingly high levels of tobacco use across the world, they increasingly recognize that smoking also worsens inequalities in health and life expectancy.Trends in … Read more
Unstable union history linked to higher childhood mortality risk
The marriage-go-round can be a costly ride for children in post-industrial countries as family instability is associated with elevated risk of negative outcomes like teen pregnancy, depression, aggression, asthma, and … Read more
Population density interacts with sanitation to predict child health
Studies on child health in developing countries often find that children are healthier in urban areas than in rural areas. There are many reasons for this disparity. People in urban … Read more
Health effects of working beyond State Pension Age in England
Paid work in adulthood is generally considered beneficial for physical and psychological health and well-being (Woodell and Burton 2006) but its effects at older ages are unclear. Research on work … Read more
Neonatal mortality trend in Indian states, 1981-2011
According to the most recent estimates, under-five mortality¹ in India is decreasing, but the annual number of under-five deaths is still as high as 1.2 million, the largest in the … Read more
Smoking in Italy since World War II
Smoking has obviously and significantly impacted human mortality. And while the death toll from smoking may be its most striking legacy, the study of smoking also reveals aspects of social, … Read more
Infectious diseases in ageing populations: a neglected cause of mortality?
In countries with high life expectancies, death is predominantly the consequence of cancers and diseases of the circulatory system. Yet, infectious diseases have not disappeared from public health concerns, and … Read more
Deaths exceed births in most of Europe, but not in the United States, and not in Texas
Prevalence of natural decrease In the first decade of the 21st century (2000-2009), 58 percent of the 1,391 counties of Europe had more deaths than birthscompared to just 28 percent … Read more
Is there a gender bias in births and child mortality in Indonesia?
Son preference and gender bias, which are revealed in births and child mortality, tend to be concentrated in South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Europe, and the South Caucasus—places where patrilineal … Read more
Progression de l’espérance de vie: un champ encore grand ouvert mais non sans limite
Si Jeanne Calment a vécu un peu plus de 122 ans et que rien n’indique clairement que ce record mondial soit une limite infranchissable, il est fort probable qu’une telle … Read more
La limite de la vie humaine
La doyenne de l’humanité, la française Jeanne Calment est décédée en 1997 à 122 ans et 5 mois. Bien que dûment vérifié et homologué par le groupe international de recherche … Read more
Obesity and development – maybe a fit?
Wikipedia informs us that “obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health, leading to … Read more
Innovations in register data: the value of linkages to prescription databases illustrated by an analysis of underuse of medication among the unmarried
Data from registers that cover entire national populations have been extensively used in demography, other social sciences, and epidemiology over the last three decades.The Nordic countries in particular have very valuable … Read more
Black-White Mortality Differentials in the United States
In the United States, mortality rates differ across racial and ethnic groups. Although the gap in life expectancy between non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites (blacks and whites, hereafter) has been declining, … Read more