Birth Rank Research Articles

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: sibling sex ratio and birth rank--a catchment area study.

These were to determine (1) whether there is a birth rank effect in eating disorders, and (2) whether all-female sibships are overrepresented in the families of those with eating disorders. The study sample consisted of 293 female patients referred from a defined catchment area, the County of Leicester, United Kingdom, to an eating disorders clinic. Diagnoses were made using DSM-III and DSM-III-R. To discern birth rank effect, this core sample was expanded to one of 673 by adding published data sets to our own. No evidence for either effect was found. Biases which may have obscured genuine effects are discussed. A comment is made on the implication for family theories of causation of these negative findings.

Atopic dermatitis may be linked to whether a child is first- or second-born and/or the age of the mother.

Five hundred and thirty families with at least 1 child who had been referred to a dermatologist with atopic dermatitis were interviewed in an effort to determine whether factors such as the age of the mother when a child is born and/or birth rank can contribute to the development of atopic dermatitis. The families interviewed had a total of 1,084 children, or an average of 2 children per family. Sixty per cent of the children with atopic dermatitis were under 5 years of age. Ninety-one per cent of them had developed the disease before the age of 3; those most severely affected had developed the disease during the first year of life. In families with 2 children, but only 1 child with atopic dermatitis, the odds ratio for the second child to develop atopic dermatitis was 1.379 (0.025 < p < 0.05). The average maternal age was 24.8 to 25.2 years when giving birth to the first child and 28 years when giving birth to the second child, irrespective of the status of the child. Thus, atopic dermatitis can be related to birth rank or to the age of the mother.

Indicators of nutritional status in Turkish preschool children: results of Turkish Demographic and Health Survey 1993.

The Turkish Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS), conducted in 1993, provided data on the magnitude of malnutrition in a sample of 3152 preschool children from five geographical regions, and on its causal and conditioning factors. Stunting was found to be the dominant form of malnutrition (21 per cent). Altogether 10 per cent of children were underweight and 3 per cent were wasted. There were urban-rural (16 v. 27 per cent, P < 0.001) and regional differences (highest in the East 38 per cent, lowest in the West and North 10 and 14 per cent, respectively; P < 0.001) in the rate of stunting. Among the most important conditioning factors were too early introduction of supplementary foods, mother's educational level, mother's work area, person who takes care of children while mother is at work, birth rank of children, birth spacing, number of children in an individual family, family size, and mother's welfare and hygiene indices. The need for an intersectoral approach for the development of remedial programs to reduce the effect of these factors and for periodic assessment of nutritional status of preschool children is stressed.

Breast feeding and hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: population based case-control study

Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis is a common infantile disorder characterised by enlarged pyloric musculature and gastric outlet obstruction. Although there is a genetic component,1 some evidence suggests that postnatal factors may also play an important part. Pyloric stenosis has been associated with birth rank, maternal anxiety and drug use, and feeding practices.2 We investigated the association between pyloric stenosis and infant feeding in a population based casecontrol study. All 102 infants admitted to Santobono Paediatric Hospital, Naples between 1 July 1992 and 31 December 1993 with surgically confirmed pyloric stenosis were recruited for the study. All were born and lived in Campania province. Controls were 204 infants randomly selected from around 600 enrolled from a provincial birth list for a child health survey; all were …

McKeown, Record, and the epidemiology of malformations.

Thomas McKeown and RG Record were colleagues in Birmingham, England, from 1947 to 1977. During their first decade together, they laid the foundations of epidemiological research on malformations with a series of case-control studies of the commoner major defects. They found evidence of numerous trends of birth prevalence with variables such as season and year of birth, maternal age, birth rank, and socioeconomic status, suggesting that environmental factors played an important part in causation. The work that has led recently to the use of folate to reduce the risk of neural tube defects is among the lines of research that can be traced back to these case-control studies. McKeown and Record also initiated, in Birmingham, the first population-based register of malformations to be set up as an on-going activity. As well as paving the way for the international networks of registers that now exist, the Birmingham register has been used in a variety of cohort studies. This work has confirmed many of the case-control study findings and continues to yield new observations, including evidence that enteroviruses are involved in aetiology.

Resistance to nematode parasites in Merino sheep: sources of genetic variation

Merino sheep representing a range of bloodlines in resource flocks located across Australia were tested for resistance to gastro-intestinal nematodes. These flocks included the JB Pye Flock (Camden, NSW), Katanning Base Flock (Katanning, WA), Turretfield Merino Resource Flock (Rosedale, SA), CSIRO Finewool Flock (Armidale, NSW), and the Trangie D Flock (Trangie, NSW). Faecal egg count (FEC) was used to measure relative resistance of sheep to nematode parasites after either natural or artificial infection with Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Differences in FEC 0' 33 between strains and between and within bloodlines were examined and the heritability of this trait was estimated. A low proportion of the total variation in parasite resistance could be attributed to strain and bloodline effects (1 and 3.5%, respectively) after either natural or artificial infection. The major source of genetic variation was found within bloodlines (22.2% of total variation), with individual sires showing a wide range in parasite resistance. Paternal half-sib heritability estimates for FEC 0' 33 were significant (P &lt; 0.05) in 9 of the 11 analyses and ranged from 0.07 to 0.42, with a weighted average of 0.22. The influence of the environmental effects of sex, age of dam, birth-rearing rank, and day of birth were also investigated, and were found to be only occasionally significant, accounting for a small proportion (0.3-2.2%) of variation. Management group effects both prior to and at the time of measurement were often significant, and accounted for 2.2-19.4% of variation in FEC. Correction of FEC for effects other than management group would seem to add little to precision of selection. These results have demonstrated that significant genetic variation for nematode parasite resistance exists within a wide range of Merino bloodlines, and within-flock selection of resistant sires appears to be an effective method of improving this trait in Merino sheep.

Homosexuality in men and number of older brothers

This study investigated whether homosexual men have a higher mean birth order than heterosexual men primarily because they have more older brothers or because they have more older siblings of both sexes. For the main analyses, 302 heterosexual men were individually matched on year of birth with an equal number of heterosexual men. Each completed a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire concerning family background and other biodemographic information. Logistic regression analysis showed that homosexuality was positively correlated with the proband's number of older brothers but not with older sisters, younger brothers, younger sisters, or parental age at the time of the proband's birth. Each additional older brother increased the odds of homosexuality by 33%. These results restrict the range of possible theories of the birth order phenomenon to those that can explain not only why older brothers increase the probability of homosexuality in later-born males but also why older sisters neither enhance this effect nor counteract it.

Marriage, residence, and occupational choices of senior and junior siblings in the english past

Even when parents had few resources to transfer to their children, the dynamics of the family life-cycle may serve to advance the occupational, residence and marriage careers of certain children and hinder the careers of others. This hypothesis is tested by calculating for a number of small English communities in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the proportions of children, ranked according to their position in the birth order at the time of the census, who were resident in the parish of their parents. The data suggest that even when parents had few resources and their children made their own way in life, certain differences in residence and marriage patterns and in occupational histories were associated with specific birth ranks.

Intelligence, rang dans la fratrie et taille de la famille

We studied the relation between intellectual performance, family size and birth order. According to Zajonc's confluence model, we expected a decreasing performance with both family size and birth rank. Subjects were 893 students from technical high schools, aged from 15 to 18. Results do not confirm confluence model predictions. Intellectual performance measured by Cattell' s scale 3, appears only related with family size, and presents a break-even point. Students living in a one to three children family performed better than those living in a four or more children family. Within these two populations there is no relation between family size and performance. Family size and intellectual performance are discussed as related aspects of a whole social normative integration.

Une fratrie ou deux fratries ? La migration des frères et la migration des sœurs en France au XIXe siècle

Brothers and sisters apart ? The effect of sibling composition on XIXth century France migration. The nature of French 19th century official sources makes it particularly difficult to trace migratory trajectories. This paper uses a sample of descending geneologies from 1800 to 1914 to reexamine the dassical question concerning the relation between birth rank and géographie mobility. A first set of results confirms the findings of work in historical anthropology. Individuals coming from regions subject to inhert tance laws based on a principle of free choice had markedly different trajectories than those setting out from areas subject to a regime of equidistribution. In the first so-called «liberal» areas, the eldest child and the younger children follow very different paths. First-borns were often more sedentary, and the later born were much more prone to undertake long distance migrations. Under the egalitarian System of partition, birth order was not associated with different migratory patterns. It is likely that «libéral» régions managed to maintain a System of transmission which favored the first-born despite the introduction in 1804 of a law forbidding such practices. While the practice eventually subsided, it nevertheless persisted into the late 19th century. The study of geographic mobility thus confirms the daims that, despite the introduction of the Code Civil, the ancient law, inherited from the Ancien Régime, continued to exercise significant anthropological effects throughout the century. The study of genealogical data also allows for an exploration of the interaction of this phenomenon with other less studied mechanisms. The distribution of sexes amongst siblings played a particularly important role in determining migratory patterns. On the one hand the degree of mobility varied considerably depending on whether an individual belonged to an ail maie set of siblings, an entirely female set, or a mixed sibling family. This effect was particularly marked for women : the propensity to migrate was much lowerfor women in a family of only female children than for those who had at least one brother, while the effect of sex composition on male movement was much less marked. On the other hand, whereas the eldest male child exhibited the same patterns as the eldest in general, the same was not the case for female children : the eldest female child was much more likely to migrate than her younger sisters. These results raise a number of more general points concerning migration as a phenomenon. They suggest that an explanation of migration patterns can not be confined to the study of either macro-level regularities or of individual level attributes. lnstead the researcher must take into account an intermediary level, that of inter-individual configurations which constitute the migrant's référence group at the moment of her or his departure.

A Study on the Relationship between Self- Actualization and Mental Health of Nursing Students

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between self-actualization and mental health of nursing students. The result of the study in return will provide basic formation for educating excellent professional nurses or leaders.A convenient sample of 400 students was selected from three universities and three colleges located in Seoul and Kyungki-Do.The data were collected using a direct survey method from the 2nd of September to the 25th of September 1992.The instruments used for this study were the self-actualization test modified by Kim &amp; Lee(1983) and the mental health test modified by Lee(1986).The collected data were analyzed with the descriptive statistics such as percentage, mean, S.D., t-test. ANOVA and Pearson correlation using SPSS PC+.The results of this study were as follows :1. The self-actualization of subjects 1) The self-actualization of subjects was moderate.The subjects showed higher scores in the areas of Time Competent, Self Actualizing Values, Self Acceptance and Nature of Man than the standardized normal groups (p&lt;.01).2) The satisfied groups with nursing as a major showed higher scores in the areas of Inner Directed(p&lt;.05), Time Competent, Self Actualizing Values (p&lt;.01) and Self Regard than the unsatisfied(p&lt;.001).The satisfied groups with college life showed higher scores in the areas of Inner Directed(p&lt;.05), Nature of Man(p〈.oi), Time Competent, Self Actualizing Values, Spotaneity and Self Regard(p&lt;.001) than the unsatisfied ones.3) The middle group in the siblings showed higher scores in Existentiality than the eldest and youngest (p&lt;.01).The students without any religion showed higher scores in Existentiality(p&lt;.05) and Nature of Man(p&lt;01) than those who have a religion.But experience of failure on the college en trance examination did not make any signifi cant difference on the score of self-actualization.The junior and senior students showed higher scores in the areas of Inner Directed, Capacity(p&lt;.05), Self Actualizing Values and Feeling Reactivity than the freshman and sophomore.2. The mental health of subjects 1) Moderate mental health problems was found in the 0.5% of the total subjects. This subjects showed higher scores in the areas of Depression tnan the standardized normal groups(p&lt;,001).2) The satisfied groups with nursing as a major showed better mental health than other groups. Especially, there was a significant difference in areas of Obsessive - Compulsive, Hostility, Psychotism(p&lt;.05), Interpersonal Sensitivity, Depression and Global Severity Index(p&lt;.05).The satisfied groups with college life showed better mental health than any groups.3) Birth rank and experience of failure on the college entrance examination did not make any significant difference on the scores of mental health assessment scale.The students without any religion showed higher scores in Depression than those who have a religion(p&lt;.05).The junior and senior students showed bet ter mental health than the freshman and sophomore.3. The relationship between self-actua lization and mental health of subjects 1) The relationship between the subfactors of self-actualization and the subfactors of mental health ranged between46 and .07.2) The relationship of Self Regard and Glo bal Severity Index was the highest of all the subfactors. The relationship of Self Regard and Interpersonal Sensitivity showed second highest of all subfactors.In summary, self-actualization and mental health depend on satisfaction with nursing as a major and college life, and grade. There was a positive correlation between self-actualization and mental health. Therefore, the eficient management at life guidance program would be required to improve satisfaction with nursing as a major and college life from educational viewpoint.

Management of Metatarsus Adductovarus

A retrospective analysis of 795 patients treated for metatarsus adductovarus by a standardized outpatient approach by one of the authors (D.S.W.) from 1970 to 1983 was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a straight metal bar and attached reverse last shoe protocol. Criteria for inclusion were developed excluding those milder cases in which spontaneous resolution was expected and indeed occurred. Nearly uniform excellent results were encountered, with a 99% likelihood of obtaining a fully corrected foot. Surgical intervention was deemed necessary in under 1% of cases seen. The authors also examined birth weights and rank in relation to metatarsus adductovarus. Those children with the deformity had a mean birth weight of 7.6 pounds, without statistical variance from normal average birth weights. We were unable to establish any statistical association with birth rank. In light of the results of this study, which compare favorably with serial casting, we recommend this approach as a more economical and less disruptive and cumbersome technique for parent, patient, and physician.

The increasing incidence of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.

Several reports have suggested that there is an increasing incidence of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS). We examined the incidence of IHPS in a stable population in the West of Ireland over a ten year period (1981-1990). During the 10 years of the study the number of live births per year did not alter significantly. The incidence of IHPS increased significantly from 0.87/1000 live births in 1981 to 5.10/1000 in 1990 (p < 0.001, Student's test), peaking in 1989 at 6.8/1000. There was no statistical correlation between the increasing incidence and feeding habits, birth rank, family history or gender distribution. The reason(s) for this increase remain unclear.

Height: a risk marker for ischaemic heart disease: prospective results from the Caerphilly and Speedwell Heart Disease Studies.

The predictive power of height for future ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was examined in 4860 men from two communities in South Wales and the West of England. At follow-up, men in the shortest fifth of the height distribution had experienced twice as many incident IHD events (fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction) as was the case for men from the tallest fifth. Adjustment for age, social class and smoking habit failed to alter these relationships significantly. In the data from South Wales, determinants of height were examined; birth rank and number of siblings showed a trend with height. This trend was found only in men whose fathers were manual workers and may be related to inadequate nutrition in the higher birth ranks and larger families. These results support the suggestion that early childhood factors may be relevant to IHD in middle age and possible mechanisms are discussed.

Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimates for selection to improve lamb carcass traits

Abstract The variance components needed to calculate genetic and phenotypic parameters for selection to improve carcass composition in white-faced sheep were estimated from a sire model using REML on data from 1602 Romney and Romneycross lambs. The sires were either Romney (n = 60), Border Leicester (n = 18), Poll Dorset (n = 14), or Coopworth (n = 10) with approximately 16 progeny per sire and all dams were Romney. Lambs had an average liveweight of 31.0 kg at an average age of 205 days. Carcasses were dissected into lean, subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, bone, and waste. The multivariate mixed linear model included birth date of the lamb as a linear covariate, year-rearing group, breed of sire, sex of lamb, birth rank, and slaughter group as fixed effects, and sire as a random effect. Traits were categorised as either lean, fat, or skeletal dimension indicators. Heritability estimates for lean indicator traits obtained by dissection averaged 0.36. The lean indicator trait with the highest heritability was longissimus muscle width (h 2 = 0.63). Heritability estimates for fat depth measurements averaged 0.23. Heritability of skeletal dimension traits averaged 0.43. Expected responses in a selection objective, comprising increased lean weight and decreased fat weight, were compared for selection indices consisting of hot-carcass weight and one of 26 carcass measurements, In general, both lean and fat indicator traits contributed to a reduction in fat response. The index comprising hot-carcass weight and weight of lean tissue, obtained by dissection, from the leg joint, produced the greatest economic response in the selection objective. The economic response from a nondissection trait was from selection on the index which comprised hotcarcass weight and longissimus muscle width, A. The increase in lean tissue response over that predicted from single trait selection on HCW was small (0.04 kg) relative to the decrease in FAT (0.20 kg). None of the dimension traits produced a negative predicted response in fat. In the range of predicted responses from the two trait indices, there was greater variation in the fat responses than in the lean responses.

Congenital Hip Instability in Hospital Born Neonates in Abha

In a prospective screening of 2222 consecutive live hospital births over a ten-month period in Abha, there was an incidence of 3.6% for congenital hip instability by examination within 48 hours of delivery. This is a higher incidence than that reported from most parts of the world and is comparable to earlier Japanese figures. This suggests a regional variation in the incidence of his instability within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Bilateral instability was found in 32% and there was a left lateral dominance. There was a significantly higher incidence in female babies, in the local Saudi population and in first degree relatives of affected babies. Hip instability was noted in 8% of breech deliveries. No association was demonstrable with maternal age, birth order, size of the baby or gestation. Our findings are compared with other published data from Saudi Arabia and the West. The need for continued appropriate neonatal screening for early diagnosis of congenital hip instability is emphasized.

Comparative aspects of resistance to body cooling in newborn lambs and kids

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to compare responses to cold stress in newborn lambs and kids. Two experiments were conducted in a climatic chamber with controlled air temperatures and artificial wind and rain. The first experiment involved 25 Poll Dorset × (Border Leicester × Romney) lambs and 16 Angora × feral kids while the second involved 30 Suffolk × (Border Leicester × Romney) lambs and 26 Angora × feral kids. Rectal temperatures were measured and the rate of decline in rectal temperature estimated in both experiments. In the second experiment, metabolic rate was also measured and coat characteristics (birth coat depth and wool weight per unit area of skin) were examined. The effects of birth rank and sex on resistance to cold exposure and their interaction with species were examined in both experiments.In experiment 1, kids had lower rectal temperatures than lambs at the start of the test but there was no species effect on the rate of decline in rectal temperature. In experiment 2, kids exhibited a significantly greater rate of decline in rectal temperature than did lambs. This difference in species effect between the experiments reflected primarily a greater rate of body cooling in the Poll Dorset-cross lambs (experiment 1) than in the Suffolk-cross lambs (experiment 2) rather than a difference between the kids in the two experiments. Additionally, in experiment 2, metabolic rate per unit live weight was significantly lower in the kids than in the lambs. No differences were apparent between the species in coat characters. Multiple-born lambs and kids were found to exhibit a significantly greater rate of decline in rectal temperature than singles, but only marginal differences in heat production were observed between the birth ranks. No significant effects of sex on resistance to cold stress were found in this study. Effects of birth rank and sex were additive with those of species. It is concluded that a combination of low heat production capacity and small body size is responsible for the generally poor responses of newborn kids to cold stress but there is probably little difference between lambs and kids in the insulative value of their birth coats.

The effect of birth order on the occurrence of developmental language impairment

The birth order of second-grade children with and without developmental language impairment was obtained to determine if language-impaired children were more likely to be later born than earlier born. In this study the family size and socioeconomic status of the families for the language-impaired and normal groups were very similar. Comparison of the distribution of birth ranks between second-grade language-impaired and normal second-grade children failed to show a difference in birth ranks. Further, the distribution of birth ranks of all language-impaired children within the sibships was not found to show evidence favouring either early or later born birth ranks. Thus, contrary to previous research in which family size and socioeconomic status were not controlled, this study did not provide evidence in support of a birth order effect in developmental language impairment.

The Relationship of Siblings to the Size of Rural Nigerian Preschoolers

Staff from a health education project in Eket village in Cross River State, Nigeria collected 1985-1986 height and weight data from at least 286 preschool children. Results from the 1 way analysis of variance tests revealed that age significantly affected mean weights for age and for height (p.01). For example, between 1 and 2 years of age the weights for age and for height fell substantially due to a decrease in breast feeding and introduction of solid foods. Similarly, birth rank significantly accounted for mean height for age (p=.01) and mean weight for age (p.01). For instance, the mean height for age and mean weight for age fell for 2nd born children. After the 2nd child, they climbed to the point where at the 6th child and greater the means were greater than for the 1st born. Number of children in the household only significantly affected mean weight for age (p=.01). A single child ranked significantly better in weight for age and weight for height than households with 2-6 children. After the 3rd child, however, a steady increase in mean percentile rank occurred with each additional child. In fact, mean percentile weight for age values of all the children in households of 7 or more children were higher than for any other household size. Observations of field staff supported the hypothesis that, in large families, the older children care and nurture the younger siblings and do not have high demands to work in the fields and maintain the households thereby accounting for the superior nutritional status for children in families of 7 or more children. Nevertheless overall nutritional status of 28% of the children were severely malnourished. Further, current nutritional status of 14% were severely malnourished. Moreover 36% ranked as chronically malnourished.

Genetic and non-genetic influences on growth and carcass traits of goats

Compared to sheep and cattle, knowledge of yield and quality of goatmeat is limited. Mature size of goats can vary ten-fold between breeds, with consequent variations in growth rates. Non-genetic factors include maturity, physiological state, nutrition, sex and birth rank. Roles of nutrition and stage of maturity in determining level and distribution of fat are poorly understood. Many effects of maturity and sex on carcass characteristics of goats are similar to those observed in sheep. Does contain less bone in their carcass than bucks, and yield more edible tissue at the same carcass weight. However, due to a greater tendency to deposit fat, females contain less muscle than males at most weights. Mature goats can contain 30% carcass fat or more, but this is unusual, and goat carcasses normally contain lower levels of total fat and less subcutaneous fat than sheep. Goat carcasses contain a higher proportion of total muscle, but its distribution into higher valued carcass regions is less favourable than in sheep. Reported differences in meat tenderness between sheep and goats probably reflect unsuitable pre-/post-slaughter handling of goats more than intrinsic differences between two species. Level of intake and diet composition influence goat carcass composition. High energy feeds can increase fat deposition, but knowledge on this topic is limited. Little is known about effects of feeding and age on meat sensory characteristics such as texture, tenderness and juiciness. There is a huge number of goat breeds in the world, but few objective, comparative data exist. Comparisons are confounded by the range of environmental conditions in which goats are kept. European dairy breeds and the improved Boer goat of South Africa appear to be the fastest growing. Boer goats may have a higher proportion of muscle in the carcass than other goat breeds, but data on this point are far from conclusive.