MyMedR

Mutual compensation of the effects of religious and ethnic homogamy on reproduction

Huber S, Fieder M

Am J Hum Biol, 2018 01;30(1).

OBJECTIVES: Homogamy, mating based on similarity, has been demonstrated for a great variety of traits such as age, education, religion, and physical and psychological traits. Recently, pro-fertile effects of religious as well as educational homogamy have been reported. We investigate whether ethnic homogamy also has a pro-fertile effect and whether ethnic and religious homogamy interact in their putative effects on reproduction (in terms of average number of offspring).

METHODS: We analyzed the association between ethnic as well as religious homogamy and woman's average number of offspring based on census data from ten countries provided by IPUMS international, encompassing a total of 1,485,433 married women aged 46-60 years (who have thus completed or almost completed reproduction) and their spouses.

RESULTS: We find a clear pro-fertile but nonadditive effect of both ethnic and religious homogamy, which is most pronounced in the case of double homogamy. Our results further indicate that homogamy for one trait may compensate for heterogamy of the other, albeit countries differ regarding which trait compensates for the other.

CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the interaction between ethnic homogamy, religious homogamy, and reproduction provides an interesting example for gene-culture co-evolution.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Ageing in the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific--implications for health care

Andrews GR

Ann Acad Med Singap, 1987 Jan;16(1):3-10.

PMID: 3592590

While ageing is still clearly not a high priority issue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more and more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in countries which make up this region of the world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a WHO sponsored cross national study of the health and social aspects of ageing in four of the countries, namely Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar WHO eleven country study in Europe. The paper argues that there is an urgent need to develop health care strategies which will minimise the impact of population ageing and will maintain the growing numbers of old people in relatively good physical and mental health through preventive measures and through programmes directed to the maintenance of physical and mental health.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Fulltext Developing a primary care research agenda through collaborative efforts - a proposed "6E" model

Tan NC, Ng CJ, Rosemary M, Wahid K, Goh LG

Asia Pac Fam Med, 2014;13(1):17.

PMID: 25606021 DOI: 10.1186/s12930-014-0017-9

Primary care research is at a crossroad in South Pacific. A steering committee comprising a member of WONCA Asia Pacific Regional (APR) council and the President of Fiji College of General Practitioners garnered sponsorship from Fiji Ministry of Health, WONCA APR and pharmaceutical agencies to organize the event in October 2013. This paper describes the processes needed to set up a national primary research agenda through the collaborative efforts of local stakeholders and external facilitators using a test case in South Pacific.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

A summary analysis of the 3rd inquiry

Asian Popul Programme News, 1977;6(3):4-7.

PMID: 12260392

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Summary of regional response to the fourth inquiry

United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCAP. Population and Social Affairs Division

Asian Pac Popul Programme News, 1979;8(3):8-12.

PMID: 12278305

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Asian-Pacific round of WFS activities

Asian Pac Popul Programme News, 1979;8(1):16.

PMID: 12309486

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Fulltext A qualitative study of governance of evolving response to non-communicable diseases in low-and middle- income countries: current status, risks and options

Rani M, Nusrat S, Hawken LH

BMC Public Health, 2012;12:877.

PMID: 23067232 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-877

Segmented service delivery with consequent inefficiencies in health systems was one of the main concerns raised during scaling up of disease-specific programs in the last two decades. The organized response to NCD is in infancy in most LMICs with little evidence on how the response is evolving in terms of institutional arrangements and policy development processes.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Fulltext Study design, rationale and methods of the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study: a cluster randomised controlled trial to evaluate environmental and human health impacts of a water-sensitive intervention in informal settlements in Indonesia and Fiji

Leder K, Openshaw JJ, Allotey P, Ansariadi A, Barker SF, Burge K, et al.

BMJ Open, 2021 01 08;11(1):e042850.

PMID: 33419917 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042850

INTRODUCTION: Increasing urban populations have led to the growth of informal settlements, with contaminated environments linked to poor human health through a range of interlinked pathways. Here, we describe the design and methods for the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) study, a transdisciplinary randomised trial evaluating impacts of an intervention to upgrade urban informal settlements in two Asia-Pacific countries.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: RISE is a cluster randomised controlled trial among 12 settlements in Makassar, Indonesia, and 12 in Suva, Fiji. Six settlements in each country have been randomised to receive the intervention at the outset; the remainder will serve as controls and be offered intervention delivery after trial completion. The intervention involves a water-sensitive approach, delivering site-specific, modular, decentralised infrastructure primarily aimed at improving health by decreasing exposure to environmental faecal contamination. Consenting households within each informal settlement site have been enrolled, with longitudinal assessment to involve health and well-being surveys, and human and environmental sampling. Primary outcomes will be evaluated in children under 5 years of age and include prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal pathogens, abundance and diversity of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in gastrointestinal microorganisms and markers of gastrointestinal inflammation. Diverse secondary outcomes include changes in microbial contamination; abundance and diversity of pathogens and AMR genes in environmental samples; impacts on ecological biodiversity and microclimates; mosquito vector abundance; anthropometric assessments, nutrition markers and systemic inflammation in children; caregiver-reported and self-reported health symptoms and healthcare utilisation; and measures of individual and community psychological, emotional and economic well-being. The study aims to provide proof-of-concept evidence to inform policies on upgrading of informal settlements to improve environments and human health and well-being.

ETHICS: Study protocols have been approved by ethics boards at Monash University, Fiji National University and Hasanuddin University.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12618000633280; Pre-results.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Sociocultural influences on strategies to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles among ten cultural groups

McCabe MP, Busija L, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M, Ricciardelli L, Mellor D, Mussap A

Body Image, 2015 Jan;12:108-14.

PMID: 25497878 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.10.008

This study determined how sociocultural messages to change one's body are perceived by adolescents from different cultural groups. In total, 4904 adolescents, including Australian, Chilean, Chinese, Indo-Fijian, Indigenous Fijian, Greek, Malaysian, Chinese Malaysian, Tongans in New Zealand, and Tongans in Tonga, were surveyed about messages from family, peers, and the media to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles. Groups were best differentiated by family pressure to gain weight. Girls were more likely to receive the messages from multiple sociocultural sources whereas boys were more likely to receive the messages from the family. Some participants in a cultural group indicated higher, and others lower, levels of these sociocultural messages. These findings highlight the differences in sociocultural messages across cultural groups, but also that adolescents receive contrasting messages within a cultural group. These results demonstrate the difficulty in representing a particular message as being characteristic of each cultural group.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Health and ageing in the developing world

Andrews GR

Ciba Found. Symp., 1988;134:17-37.

PMID: 3359882

Although ageing is not yet a high priority tissue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in most developing countries there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in the developing world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a cross-national study (sponsored by the World Health Organization) of the health and social aspects of ageing in four developing countries--Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar eleven-country WHO study in Europe. In very broad terms, the overall demographic, physical, mental health and social patterns and trends associated with ageing as demonstrated by age-group and sex differences were consistent throughout the four countries studied. Comparisons with European findings in other similar studies underlined the fundamental universality of age-related changes in biophysical, behavioural and social characteristics. The importance of the family in developing countries was evident, with about three-quarters of those aged 60 and over in the four countries living with children, often in extended family situations. Levels of adverse health-related behaviour and the prospect of changing patterns of morbidity with further increases in the total and proportional numbers of aged persons point to a need for emphasis on preventive health measures and programmes directed to the maintenance of the physical and mental health of the ageing population.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Ageing in Asia and the Pacific. A multidimensional cross-national study in four countries

Andrews GR

Compr Gerontol C, 1987 Dec;1:24-32.

PMID: 3502916

Although ageing is not yet a high priority issue for health planners, policy makers and clinicians in most developing countries, there will be a growing need in coming years to pay more attention to the important health issues associated with population ageing in the developing world. This paper reports some of the relevant findings of a cross-national study (sponsored by the World Health Organization) of the health and social aspects of ageing in four developing countries: Korea, the Philippines, Fiji and Malaysia. The key findings are compared and contrasted with those of a similar 11-country WHO study in Europe. In broad terms, the overall demographic, physical, mental health and social patterns and trends associated with ageing as demonstrated by age group and sex differences were consistent throughout the four countries studied. Comparisons with European findings in other similar studies underlined the fundamental universality of age-related changes in biophysical, behavioural and social characteristics. The importance of the family in developing countries was evident with about three-quarters of those aged 60 and over in the four countries living with children, often in extended family situations. Levels of adverse health-related behaviour and the prospect of changing patterns of morbidity with further increases in the total and proportional numbers of aged persons point to a need for emphasis on preventive health measures and programmes directed to the maintenance of the physical and mental health of the ageing population.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Living arrangements of the elderly in Fiji, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines

Martin LG

Demography, 1989 Nov;26(4):627-43.

PMID: 2583321

Using logit techniques and data from surveys of the elderly conducted in 1984 under the auspices of the World Health Organization, this article investigates socioeconomic, cultural, and demographic determinants of living arrangements of the elderly. Having a spouse or children with whom to live has important effects on living arrangements. The results provide only weak support, however, for hypotheses based on modernization theory and point to the need for detailed data on transitions in living arrangements and for information about the younger generation as well as the older generation, both of which are involved in deciding who lives with whom.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Differentials in urban-rural fertility in the countries of the ESCAP region

United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCAP. Secretariat

Econ Bull Asia Pac, 1985 Dec;36(2):56-80.

PMID: 12280574

Fertility differentials between rural and urban populations are investigated using World Fertility Survey data for Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. "The fertility measure used in this analysis is the number of children ever born to a woman. An attempt is made first to establish the differential in fertility levels between urban and rural areas after necessary control of the demographic factors..., and then the possible explanation of the differential is sought in terms of socio-economic variables such as education of the respondent, and occupation, work pattern, work status and place of work of the respondent as well as that of the husband." Data concerning the fertility differentials and the associated explanatory variables are presented in tables and charts. "The results tend to show that the countries of Asia are undergoing similar patterns of fertility transition as was experienced in the advanced countries. Perhaps one can graduate the countries in the transition scale as follows: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Malaysia are in the initial stage; Fiji, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand are in the middle stage of transition."

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Environmental radioactivity levels in marine species from Malaysia and Fiji

Dougherty G

Health Phys, 1989 Jul;57(1):187-90.

PMID: 2745081

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Age at first marital union and fertility: evidence from some Asian and Pacific countries

Kanjanapan W

Ingu munje nonjip, 1986 Jun.

PMID: 12222504

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Body satisfaction among adolescents in eight different countries

McCabe MP, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M, Mellor D, Ricciardelli L, Skouteris H, Mussap A

J Health Psychol, 2012 Jul;17(5):693-701.

PMID: 22021271 DOI: 10.1177/1359105311425274

The current study examined body satisfaction and the value of body size among adolescents in Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Tonga, Tongans in New Zealand, China, Chile and Greece. In total, 2489 adolescent females and 2152 males participated in the study. The results demonstrated that males were more satisfied with their body than females. Males generally had a lower BMI than females, except for males in China and Malaysia. Attitudes towards large bodies for males and females varied by cultural group. These results demonstrate the strong cultural similarities in body satisfaction, but the differences that occur in relation to a large body.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

Medicinal uses, chemistry and pharmacology of Dillenia species (Dilleniaceae)

Sabandar CW, Jalil J, Ahmat N, Aladdin NA

Phytochemistry, 2017 Feb;134:6-25.

PMID: 27889244 DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2016.11.010

The genus Dillenia is comprised of about 100 species of evergreen and deciduous trees or shrubs of disjunct distribution in the seasonal tropics of Madagascar through South and South East Asia, Malaysia, North Australia, and Fiji. Species from this genus have been widely used in medicinal folklore to treat cancers, wounds, jaundice, fever, cough, diabetes mellitus, and diarrhea as well as hair tonics. The plants of the genus also produce edible fruits and are cultivated as ornamental plants. Flavonoids, triterpenoids, and miscellaneous compounds have been identified in the genus. Their extracts and pure compounds have been reported for their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, antidiabetes, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, and antiprotozoal activities. Mucilage from their fruits is used in drug formulations.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

First Report of Hibiscus Chlorotic Ringspot Carmovirus in Tuvalu

Jones P, Devonshire J, Dabek A, Howells C

Plant Dis, 1998 May;82(5):591.

PMID: 30857000 DOI: 10.1094/PDIS.1998.82.5.591C

In September 1997, plants of Hibiscus manihot (locally called nambele) were observed on Vaitupu Island, Tuvalu, exhibiting an angular leaf mosaic and chlorosis that was not always clearly discernible. Electron microscopy of negatively stained sap from affected leaves revealed the presence of numerous isometric virus particles 28 nm in diameter. Poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified virus gave a single protein band of Mr 38,000 similar to that of the carmoviruses. Immunosorbent electron microscopy tests with antisera kindly provided by N. Spence showed the virus to be hibiscus chlorotic ringspot carmovirus (HCRSV) (1). This virus is also reported from El Salvador, the U.S., Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. It is not known how the virus reached Tuvalu but we suspect it was via infected cuttings, which were imported for the production of food supplements to combat acute deficiencies of vitamins A and C in the population. The virus is most likely to have been disseminated throughout the islands and atolls of Tuvalu through infected cuttings. Local spread within fields could occur through contaminated hands and cutting implements because of the ease with which the virus is mechanically transmitted. Reference: (1) H. E.Waterworth et al. Phytopathology 66:570, 1976.

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

The relationship between migration and development in the ESCAP region

Skeldon R

Popul Res Leads, 1991.

PMID: 12317488

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

The influence of infant and child mortality on fertility in selected countries of the Asian and Pacific region

United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCAP. Population Division. Fertility and Family Planning Section

Popul Res Leads, 1985.

PMID: 12314064

Matched MeSH terms: Fiji

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