Intervention Projects and the Study of Socioeconomic Determinants of Mortality

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4120124
AutoresAnne R Pebley (0000-0002-9210-6421, autor de correspondencia)
Año1984
Volumen10
Páginas281
Fecha de publicación1984-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPopulation and Development Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457
EditorialJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2807965
OpenAlexW2323513008
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas8

Much of the evidence on the relationship of social, economic, and cultural factors to child mortality in developing countries comes from analyses of surveys, vital statistics, and censuses.1 A central finding of these studies has been the importance of maternal, and sometimes paternal, education in reducing a child's risk of dying, even when other socioeconomic and environmental variables are held constant. This result suggests that a welleducated mother may care for her child differently than a more poorly educated mother, even if both have the same economic resources. Higher income or occupational status, better housing conditions, and longer child spacing have also been shown to be related to lower child mortality. These studies have been valuable in documenting the magnitudes of mortality differentials and in disentangling the relative importance of various socioeconomic variables in explaining child mortality. They have been less successful in determining the mechanisms through which these factors affect mortality. The conclusion that maternal education or longer child spacing reduces child mortality, for example, poses more questions than it answers. Is maternal education associated with lower child mortality because more educated women distribute food differently within the family, are more likely to seek medical care for a sick child, live under more sanitary conditions, or are more likely to follow sanitary practices, such as hand washing? Caldwell (1979) suggests that education changes a woman's position within her family, giving her more control over resources that she can use to care for her children. But how do more educated women use this greater control, and which of their actions are most effective? One reason for the limited scope of current demographic and social research on mortality is the lack of a theoretical framework describing the relationship between socioeconomic factors and more proximate determinants

Demographic economics · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Intervention (counseling) · Population · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Nursing