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Twin Research and Human Genetics : the... Apr 2016We analyzed birth order differences in means and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from infancy to old age. The...
We analyzed birth order differences in means and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from infancy to old age. The data were derived from the international CODATwins database. The total number of height and BMI measures from 0.5 to 79.5 years of age was 397,466. As expected, first-born twins had greater birth weight than second-born twins. With respect to height, first-born twins were slightly taller than second-born twins in childhood. After adjusting the results for birth weight, the birth order differences decreased and were no longer statistically significant. First-born twins had greater BMI than the second-born twins over childhood and adolescence. After adjusting the results for birth weight, birth order was still associated with BMI until 12 years of age. No interaction effect between birth order and zygosity was found. Only limited evidence was found that birth order influenced variances of height or BMI. The results were similar among boys and girls and also in MZ and DZ twins. Overall, the differences in height and BMI between first- and second-born twins were modest even in early childhood, while adjustment for birth weight reduced the birth order differences but did not remove them for BMI.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Birth Order; Body Height; Body Mass Index; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Twin; Twins, Dizygotic; Twins, Monozygotic
PubMed: 26996222
DOI: 10.1017/thg.2016.11 -
Cadernos de Saude Publica Feb 2016This paper examines the net effect of birth order on child nutritional status in Bangladesh using data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2011 (BDHS)....
This paper examines the net effect of birth order on child nutritional status in Bangladesh using data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2011 (BDHS). Analyses were restricted to 4,120 surviving, lastborn singleton children who were younger than 36 months at the time of the survey. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between birth order and child nutritional status. Results indicate 38.1% children are stunted and 8.2% children are fifth or higher order birth. Order of birth is one of the significant predictors of child being stunted. Third order, fourth order, and fifth or higher order children are 24%, 30%, and 72%, respectively, more likely to be stunted after adjusting for all other variables. Besides birth order, results also indicate that child age, size at birth, birth intention, maternal education, maternal body mass index, wealth index, place of residence and mass media access exert strong influences over child malnutrition. Reducing birth rates which limit number of births and birth order as well may reduce child malnutrition in Bangladesh.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Bangladesh; Birth Order; Birth Rate; Child Development; Child Nutrition Disorders; Child, Preschool; Female; Growth Disorders; Health Surveys; Humans; Infant; Male; Nutritional Status; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Young Adult
PubMed: 26958818
DOI: 10.1590/0102-311X00011215 -
American Journal of Human Biology : the... Oct 2022The goal of the present research is to establish for the first time a hierarchy of sociodemographic factors according to their importance influencing birth seasonality.
OBJECTIVES
The goal of the present research is to establish for the first time a hierarchy of sociodemographic factors according to their importance influencing birth seasonality.
METHODS
We used Vital Statistics data on all births registered in Spain in the period 2016-2019. Differences in the degree of seasonality between sociodemographic groups (defined by maternal age, maternal marital status, maternal education, birth order, maternal job qualification, maternal employment status, maternal location population size, and maternal country of birth) were first examined with descriptive techniques. Secondly, analysis through alternative Data Mining techniques determined the association between sociodemographic factors and birth seasonality and the factors importance rank.
RESULTS
Those factors related to maternal labor status (employment status, job qualification, and education) were found to be the most relevant influencing birth seasonality. It was found that the overall seasonal pattern in Spain was driven by lower skilled employed mothers, in contrast with not employed or high skilled employed mothers, who showed a different or weaker seasonality. Finally, we found that a change in the rhythm pattern has taken place in the last decades in Spain.
CONCLUSIONS
Birth seasonality is to a large extent related to maternal employment status. Employed mothers, normally more affected by the seasonality of work calendar than the unemployed, show higher conception rates structured around holidays. This may indicate that the observed change of seasonal pattern in Spain in the last decades, as in other European countries, may be specifically driven by the progressive higher participation of women in labor market.
Topics: Birth Order; Birth Rate; Female; Humans; Seasons; Sociodemographic Factors; Spain
PubMed: 35938587
DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23788 -
International Journal For Equity in... May 2023The gender gap remains a major impediment in the path toward equality, and it is especially wide in low-income countries. Gender differences in health-seeking behaviors...
BACKGROUND
The gender gap remains a major impediment in the path toward equality, and it is especially wide in low-income countries. Gender differences in health-seeking behaviors may be a factor. Family size and childbirth order are two critical factors affecting family resource allocation. This study examines gender differences in healthcare-seeking behaviors among children with visual impairment in rural China across different family structures (birth order and family size).
METHODS
We draw on a dataset containing 19,934 observations constructed by combining data from 252 different school-level surveys spanning two provinces. The surveys were all conducted in 2012 using uniform survey instruments and data collection protocols in randomly selected schools across western provinces in rural China. The sample children range in grades from 4 to 5. Our analysis compares rural girls with rural boys regarding vision health outcome and behavior (vision examination and correction).
RESULTS
The findings revealed that girls have worse vision than boys. Regarding vision health behaviors, girls have a lower overall vision examination rate than boys. There is no gender difference when the sample student is the only child or the youngest child in the family, but there is still a gender difference when the sample student is the oldest child in the family or the middle child in the birth order. When it comes to vision correction behavior, boys are more likely to own eyeglasses than girls are for groups of students with mild visual impairment, even when the sample student is the only child in the family. However, when the sample student has another brother or sister (the sample student is the youngest, the oldest child in the family, or the middle child in the birth order), the gender difference disappears.
CONCLUSIONS
Gender differences in vision health outcomes are correlated with gender differences in vision health-seeking behaviors among rural children. Depending on the birth order and family size, gender disparities in visual health practices vary. In the future, consideration should be given to providing medical subsidies to reduce the cost of vision health behaviors and to provide information interventions to change gender inequality in households and promote equality in children's vision health behaviors.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
The trial was approved by the Stanford University Institutional Review Board (Protocol No. ISRCTN03252665). Permission was received from local Boards of Education in each region and the principals of all schools. The principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed throughout. Written informed consent was obtained from at least one parent for all child participants.
Topics: Male; Child; Female; Humans; Birth Order; Sex Factors; East Asian People; Health Behavior; Family Characteristics; Rural Population; Vision Disorders; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Outcome Assessment, Health Care
PubMed: 37179296
DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-01907-5 -
BMC Cancer May 2011Family size and birth order are known to influence the risk of some cancers. However, it is still unknown whether these effects change from early to later adulthood. We...
BACKGROUND
Family size and birth order are known to influence the risk of some cancers. However, it is still unknown whether these effects change from early to later adulthood. We used the data of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to further analyze these effects.
METHODS
We selected over 5.7 million offspring with identified parents but no parental cancer. We estimated the effect of birth order and family size by Poisson regression adjusted for age, sex, period, region and socioeconomic status. We divided the age at diagnosis in two groups, below and over 50 years, to identify the effect of family size and birth order for different age periods.
RESULTS
Negative associations for increasing birth order were found for endometrial, testicular, skin, thyroid and connective tissue cancers and melanoma. In contrast, we observed positive association between birth order and lung, male and female genital cancers. Family size was associated with decreasing risk for endometrial and testicular cancers, melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma; risk was increased for leukemia and nervous system cancer. The effect of birth order decreased for lung and endometrial cancer from age at diagnosis below to over 50 years. Combined effects for birth order and family size were marginally significant for thyroid gland tumors. Especially, the relative risk for follicular thyroid gland tumors was significantly decreased for increasing birth order.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that the effect of birth order decreases from early to late adulthood for lung and endometrial cancer.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Birth Order; Child; Child, Preschool; Databases, Factual; Family Characteristics; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasms; Registries; Risk Factors; Sweden; Young Adult
PubMed: 21554674
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-163 -
Journal of Religion and Health Apr 2023Sexually active adolescents tend to have a wider range of psychosocial problems, including depression, anger, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and substance...
Effectiveness of Psycho-Religious Sexuality Education upon Anger and Depression of Iranian Female Adolescents: The Relationship of Quality Family Relationships and Birth Order.
Sexually active adolescents tend to have a wider range of psychosocial problems, including depression, anger, poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, and substance use. Developing a high-quality and curriculum-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program is of great importance for adolescents following Iranian culture. Due to the lack of such an educational program, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of psycho-religious CSE upon anger and depression of Iranian female adolescents, as well as the relationship of quality family relationships and birth order. The research design is quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this study comprised all Iranian female adolescents aged 15 to 18 years in Mashhad who participated in this workshop voluntarily. For data collection, the Child and Adolescent Depression Inventory and Spielberger's State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) were used. SPSS 21 software and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analysis. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the mean difference between depression and anger in the control and experimental groups (p-Value < 0.05). The results also showed a significant relationship between birth order and the quality of family relationships on depression and anger. Psycho-religious-based SE can reduce depression and anger in female students. These findings can be used in planning educational interventions with a psycho-religious-based approach to reducing anger, depressive symptoms and dangerous sexual behaviors among adolescents.
Topics: Child; Humans; Adolescent; Female; Iran; Birth Order; Sex Education; Anger; Family Relations
PubMed: 36538141
DOI: 10.1007/s10943-022-01716-0 -
Indian Pediatrics Jan 2015
Topics: Attitude of Health Personnel; Birth Order; Female; Humans; India; Labor, Obstetric; Obstetrics; Physicians; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, High-Risk
PubMed: 25638194
DOI: 10.1007/s13312-015-0573-6 -
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth Nov 2017Women's empowerment is often used to explain changes in reproductive behavior, but no consideration is given to how reproductive events can shape women's empowerment...
BACKGROUND
Women's empowerment is often used to explain changes in reproductive behavior, but no consideration is given to how reproductive events can shape women's empowerment over time. Fertility may cause changes in women's empowerment, or they may be mutually influencing. Research on women's empowerment and fertility relies on cross-sectional data from South Asia, which limits the understanding of the direction of association between women's empowerment and fertility in other global contexts. This study uses two waves of a panel survey from a prominent Middle Eastern country, Egypt, to examine the trajectory of women's empowerment and the relationship between first and subsequent births and empowerment over time.
METHODS
Using longitudinal data from the 2006 and 2012 Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey, a nationally representative sample of households in Egypt, for 4660 married women 15 to 49 years old, multilevel negative binomial, ordinary least squares, and logistic regression models estimate women's empowerment and consider whether a first and subsequent births are associated with empowerment later in life. Women's empowerment is operationalized through four measures of agency: individual household decision-making, joint household decision-making, mobility, and financial autonomy.
RESULTS
A first birth and subsequent births are significantly positively associated with all measures of empowerment except financial autonomy in 2012. Women who have not had a birth make 30% fewer individual household decisions and 14% fewer joint household decisions in 2012 compared to women with a first birth. There is also a positive relationship with mobility, as women with a first birth have more freedom of movement compared to women with no births. Earlier empowerment is also an important predictor of empowerment later in life.
CONCLUSIONS
Incorporating the influence of life events like first and subsequent births helps account for the possibility that empowerment is dynamic and that life course experiences shape women's empowerment. This and the notion that empowerment builds over time helps portray women's lives more completely, demonstrates the importance of empowerment early in the life course, and addresses issues of temporality in empowerment fertility research.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Birth Order; Decision Making; Egypt; Family Characteristics; Female; Humans; Logistic Models; Longitudinal Studies; Marriage; Middle Aged; Personal Autonomy; Power, Psychological; Pregnancy; Sex Factors; Women's Rights; Young Adult
PubMed: 29143631
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-017-1494-2 -
Journal of the American Geriatrics... Jan 2014Cultural attitudes about medical decision-making and filial expectations may lead some surrogates to experience stress and family conflict. Thirteen focus groups with...
Cultural attitudes about medical decision-making and filial expectations may lead some surrogates to experience stress and family conflict. Thirteen focus groups with racially and ethnically diverse English and Spanish speakers from county and Veterans Affairs hospitals, senior centers, and cancer support groups were conducted to describe participants' experiences making serious or end-of-life decisions for others. Filial expectations and family dynamics related to birth order and surrogate decision-making were explored using qualitative, thematic content analysis, and overarching themes from focus group transcripts were identified. The mean age of the 69 participants was 69 ± 14, and 29% were African American, 26% were white, 26% were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 19% were Latino. Seventy percent of participants engaged in unprompted discussions about birth order and family dynamics. Six subthemes were identified within three overarching categories: communication (unspoken expectations and discussion of death as taboo), emotion (emotional stress and feelings of loneliness), and conflict (family conflict and potential solutions to prevent conflict). These findings suggest that birth order and family dynamics can have profound effects on surrogate stress and coping. Clinicians should be aware of potential unspoken filial expectations for firstborns and help facilitate communication between the patient, surrogate, and extended family to reduce stress and conflict.
Topics: Adult; Advance Care Planning; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Birth Order; Communication; Conflict, Psychological; Cultural Characteristics; Decision Making; Emotions; Family Relations; Female; Focus Groups; Health Literacy; Humans; Loneliness; Male; Middle Aged; Proxy; Qualitative Research; San Francisco
PubMed: 24383459
DOI: 10.1111/jgs.12610 -
Birth order and sibling sex ratio of children and adolescents referred to a gender identity service.PloS One 2014In adult male samples, homosexuality is associated with a preponderance of older brothers (i.e., the fraternal birth order effect). In several studies comparing gender...
In adult male samples, homosexuality is associated with a preponderance of older brothers (i.e., the fraternal birth order effect). In several studies comparing gender dysphoric youth, who are likely to be homosexual in adulthood, to clinical or non-clinical control groups, the findings have been consistent with the fraternal birth order effect in males; however, less is known about unique sibship characteristics of gender dysphoric females. The current study investigated birth order and sibling sex ratio in a large sample of children and adolescents referred to the same Gender Identity Service (N = 768). Probands were classified as heterosexual males, homosexual males, or homosexual females based on clinical diagnostic information. Groups differed significantly in age and sibship size, and homosexual females were significantly more likely to be only children. Subsequent analyses controlled for age and for sibship size. Compared to heterosexual males, homosexual males had a significant preponderance of older brothers and homosexual females had a significant preponderance of older sisters. Similarly, the older sibling sex ratio of homosexual males showed a significant excess of brothers whereas that of homosexual females showed a significant excess of sisters. Like previous studies of gender dysphoric youth and adults, these findings were consistent with the fraternal birth order effect. In addition, the greater frequency of only children and elevated numbers of older sisters among the homosexual female group adds to a small literature on sibship characteristics of potential relevance to the development of gender identity and sexual orientation in females.
Topics: Adolescent; Birth Order; Child; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Likelihood Functions; Male; Referral and Consultation; Regression Analysis; Sex Ratio; Siblings
PubMed: 24651045
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090257