High Level Of Socio-economic Development Research Articles

Overweight exceeds underweight among women in most developing countries

It is generally believed that overweight is less prevalent than undernutrition in the developing world, particularly in rural areas, and that it is concentrated in higher socioeconomic status (SES) groups. The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of adult female overweight and underweight in the developing world by using categories of urban or rural status and SES strata. Body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) data collected in 36 countries from 1992 to 2000 by nationally representative cross-sectional surveys of women aged 20-49 y (n = 148579) were classified as indicating underweight (BMI < 18.5) and overweight (BMI >/= 25). Associations between the nutritional status of urban and rural women and each country's per capita gross national income (GNI) and level of urbanization were explored in the overall sample and among different SES groups. Overweight exceeded underweight in well over half of the countries: the median ratio of overweight to underweight was 5.8 in urban and 2.1 in rural areas. Countries with high GNIs and high levels of urbanization had not only high absolute prevalences of overweight but also small urban-rural differences in overweight and very high ratios of overweight to underweight. In the more-developed countries, overweight among low-SES women was high in both rural (38%) and urban (51%) settings. Even many poor countries, countries in which underweight persists as a significant problem, had fairly high prevalences of rural overweight. In most developing economies, prevalences of overweight in young women residing in both urban and rural areas are higher than those in underweight women, especially in countries at higher levels of socioeconomic development. Research is needed to assess male and child overweight to understand the dynamics facing these groups as well.

Hong Kong's Problematic Democratic Transition: Power Dependency or Business Hegemony?

Hong Kongs Political Development since the 1960s has seemed to indicate bright prospects for democratization, since Hong Kong had attained most of the “prerequisites” for democratization (Lipset 1994). Hong Kong had considerable wealth and a rising middle class, no extreme or intolerable inequalities, and a high level of socioeconomic development. According to the wealth explanation of Lipset (1959) and Huntington (1984), Hong Kong's robust economy should make possible high levels of urbanization, industrialization, education, literacy, and mass media exposure, all of which are conducive to democracy.

Determinants and correlates of language shift among the tribais of Central India

Language shift from traditional language to non-traditional has become an important aspect of the study in various disciplines including social and regional sciences besides linguistics. The geographers have studied the patterns of spatial distribution and the processes through which the shift occurs and also analysed the factors which are responsible for the shift. Socio-economic and political implications of the shift have been adequately emphasized in geographical studies. The present study is an attempt in this direction by selecting some of the important tribal groups of Central India. The paper attempts to establish the relationship between language shift and socio-economic conditions among the Bhils, the Korkus, the Mundas and the Santals of Central India. The stepwise regression model has been applied to understand the causality of the shift while the degree of linguistic exposure has been calculated to determine the magnitude of language shift among them for a comparative analysis. Both primary and secondary data have been analysed for this study. Though language shift among the tribal population has exposed them to the outside world and helped them to achieve higher levels of socio-economic development, its consequences seem to be more serious as it has led to the division of the tribal society and formation of separate groups of people who have been alienated from the traditional people. Thus, the process of linguistic shift is held responsible for the loss of tribal identity and their traditional culture.

Gender differences in postneonatal infant mortality in Taiwan

Numerous studies have indicated that gender discrimination influencing child survival is widespread in Asia. Therefore, we have investigated gender and cause-specific postneonatal mortality in Taiwan. Mortality data derived from death certificates and demographic statistics in Taiwan between 1981 and 1990 were analyzed. Postneonatal mortality decreased from 9.4 per 1000 live births to 5.5 per 1000 live births for males, and from 8.3 to 5.0 for females. The trends for cause-specific mortality for male and female infants were similar during the study period. The male-to-female ratio of overall death rates was 1.11. It was slightly higher in cities and lower in rural areas, and lowest in the least developed eastern region of Taiwan. Mortality from congenital diseases had the lowest male-to-female ratio, specifically in the North, the cities and areas of indigenous people. Infectious disease mortality showed low male-to-female ratios in the rural areas and in the eastern region. The place of death from infectious diseases as a measure for the use of sophisticated medical care showed that more female than male deaths occurred at home in the rural areas, cities, and central regions. It was concluded that a high level of socio-economic development created conditions of gender equality, whereas in situations of low socio-economic development males were favoured. The tendency to discriminate according to gender is very subtle in Taiwan, much less so than in other regions of Asia, including Thailand and India.

DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS

A significant body of research indicates that development and human rights are related. This “modernization theory of human rights” suggests that as poor countries achieve higher levels of socioeconomic development, human rights conditions improve. While it is clear that the human rights records of the most highly developed countries are quite good, this article examines whether levels of development are connected to human rights conditions in the rest of the world. Measures of economic and socioeconomic development are examined against two scales of political terror based on annual reports from Amnesty International and the U.S. State Department. The findings indicate that human rights and development are not significantly related in the less developed world and suggest that efforts to promote human rights need to go beyond assisting rights‐abusing states based on past notions of developmental aid.

Hereditary disease as a cause of childhood blindness: regional variation. Results of blind school studies undertaken in countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa.

There is evidence from developed countries that genetic disease is the major cause of childhood blindness. Little data are available from most developing and newly industrialised countries concerning the relative importance of hereditary diseases as a cause of childhood blindness. Children in schools for the blind in 13 countries of Africa, Latin America and Asia were examined between 1990 and 1994 using a standardised method The anatomical site of abnormality and underlying aetiology were analysed for children with a corrected acuity in the better eye of less than 6/60 (severe visual impairment and blindness, svi/BL). In these countries II-39% of svi/BL was attributed to genetic disease. Genetic diseases were responsible for a higher proportion of childhood visual loss in countries with higher levels of socio-economic development. An autosomal recessive mode of inheritance was reported in 22-52% of children with genetic disease. Retinal dystrophies were the commonest form of genetic eye disease (49-80%) in all countries apart from Thailand and the Philippines where cataract was the commonest (43.9%). The role of consanguinity, and opportunities for further research are discussed.

COUNTERURBANIZATION IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY∗

Since Berry argued in 1976 that counterurbanization had replaced urbanization in the U.S., a debate has ensued as to whether the phenomenon also exists in Western Europe. Proponents of a developmental theory of counterurbanization contend that the phenomenon should be evident in countries which have achieved a very high level of socioeconomic development, including the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Most of the German and English language literature on the topic suggests the contrary for the FRG. Here urbanization and counterurbanization are restricted to specific geographic meanings, i.e., spatial agglomeration and deglomeration. Results from four interrelated tests show a trend toward counterurbanization evident as early as the 1960s in the post-war regional demographic data of the FRG.