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A Palloni

Publications and source records attributed to A Palloni.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Interpreting the paradoxical in the hispanic paradox: demographic and epidemiologic approaches.

This paper discusses problems that are common to both the epidemiologic risk-factor approach and the demographic variable-based approach to studying population health. We argue that there is a shared reluctance to move away from a narrow variable-based thinking that pervades both disciplines, and a tendency to reify the multivariate linear procedures employed in both disciplines. In particular, we concentrate on the difficulties generated by classical variable-based approaches that are especially striking when one neglects selection processes and the use of strategies to minimize its effects. We illustrate these difficulties in terms of the so-called "Hispanic Paradox", which refers to comparative health advantages that some Hispanic groups appear to have. We find that much of what is conceived by demographers and epidemiologists as a paradox may not be paradoxical at all.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The effects of infant mortality on fertility revisited: new evidence from Latin America.

In this paper, we examine empirical evidence for a relation between infant and child mortality and fertility in Latin American countries from 1920 to 1990. We investigate the relation at several levels of aggregation and evaluate the extent to which evidence at one level is consistent with evidence at other levels. We first examine aggregate cross-country information over several decades, a type of data typically used in past research on the topic. We also examine yearly series of births, deaths, infant deaths, and socioeconomic indicators for selected countries to track the association between short-term fluctuations in fertility and infant mortality. Finally, we use micro-level data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) to assess the relation between fertility and child mortality from individual reproductive histories. The evidence we assemble from these different data sets is remarkably consistent and suggests small positive effects of infant mortality on fertility. These effects, however, may be too small to support the hypothesis that changes in child mortality are of more than modest importance in the process of fertility decline in Latin America in the late twentieth century.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Economic swings and demographic changes in the history of Latin America.

In this paper we study the effects of short-term fluctuations in indicators of economic well-being on selected demographic response such as births, marriages and deaths at age intervals in eleven Latin American countries between 1910 and 1990. We use conventional distributed lag models to assess the magnitude and direction of effects and test a variety of hypotheses some of which have been posed to hold in Western Europe and others that are more specific and tailored to the Latin American context. We also compare the magnitude and direction of effects obtained among these countries with those obtained for pre-industrial Europe and uncover the existence of broadly similar patterns.

Demography↗
PubMed1994

The effects of breast-feeding and the pace of childbearing on early childhood mortality in Mexico.

Using data from Mexico's Demographic and Health Survey, the authors examine the effects of breast-feeding and the pace of childbearing on early childhood mortality in a sample of 2,665 children born between 1982 and 1986. From a family planning perspective, they seek to assess the impact that changes in childbearing patterns and associated changes in breast-feeding patterns may have on infant and childhood mortality. This is done by integrating breast-feeding models with variables influencing the pace of childbearing. The analysis indicates that the effects of breast-feeding on infant mortality were strong, consistently negative, and statistically significant until at least the sixth month of life, after which they were considerably diluted. Among the other variables analyzed, the effects of a following conception on mortality were found to be very strong among infants 3-5 months old; and maternal age at delivery appeared to have some importance among infants 1-2 months old and among children in the second year of life. To examine likely interactions between family planning, breast-feeding, and mortality, an integrated model was applied that simultaneously considered these and a range of other variables. The results suggest that the effects of improved birth spacing and maternal age at delivery associated with family planning are powerful enough to cause 20-40% reductions in infant mortality. However, the effects of reduced breast-feeding associated with family planning are great enough to offset more than 60% of these benefits. Limitations of the model make it necessary to emphasize that all of these conclusions need to be accepted with caution.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Changes in the family status of elderly women in Korea.

As a result of sharp declines in fertility and mortality, the aging of the Korean population has proceeded rapidly and is likely to continue in full force for some time. In societies such as Korea, where families traditionally have been the only efficient source of support for the elderly, an aging population poses a threat because families have fewer descendants available to care for increasing numbers of surviving elderly persons. The exact magnitude of the reduction in the supply of kin depends on details of the demographic trends and cannot be evaluated a priori. In this paper we use family-status life tables to assess the effects of changes in demographic processes on the family status of elderly women and to project trends in elderly women's family status.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

The effects of breastfeeding and pace of childbearing on mortality at early ages.

The effects of the pace of childbearing and breastfeeding practices on infant mortality have rarely been considered together. In this paper, we design and use a set of methodological tools to test a variety of hypotheses postulating the effects of breastfeeding and pace of childbearing on mortality in infancy and early childhood, the mechanisms through which those effects operate, and the contingencies that strengthen or weaken them. The strong effects of both length of breastfeeding and the pace of childbearing on the risks of child death suggest that neither of them exerts an impact on mortality totally mediated by the other. Social and demographic factors (such as age of child, education of mother, and region of residence) also condition the impact of breastfeeding and pace of childbearing on mortality.

Birth Intervals↗
PubMed1979

A new technique to estimate infant mortality with an application for El Salvador and Colombia.

The paper presents new estimates of infant mortality for Colombia and El Salvador for the years 1950--1970. These estimates are obtained by using a technique which improves on Brass's method in that it suppresses the assumption of constant mortality and introduces instead assumptions about linear and nonlinear changes in mortality risks affecting various cohorts of individuals.

Birth Rate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Determinants of mortality among Cameroonian children: are the effects of breastfeeding and pace of childbearing artifacts?

"We analyse a rich data source, the Yaounde round of surveys [conducted] by IFORD (Institut de Formation et de Recherche Demographiques) during the late seventies and early eighties in several African urban centers. We argue that despite important limitations, these surveys are potentially very useful as a source of verification of hypotheses that have been heretofore improperly tested with retrospective surveys. Using the Yaounde round we obtain fine-tuned estimates of the effects of lactation and timing of following conception on infant and child mortality. We are able to identify the role played by birthweight, types of breastfeeding, and antecedent illnesses and thus control for important variables that are not normally recorded in conventional demographic surveys. We show that potential biases associated with losses to follow-up and selection processes are of little significance." (SUMMARY IN ITA AND FRE)

Africa↗