At military recruitment centres in France, data were collected from some 40,000 subjects on their social environment, the amount of education received and occupation, and measurements were taken on height, weight, and performance in tests of mental and physical ability.

The secular increase in mean stature is continuing. Offspring of consanguineous unions are of lower mean stature and mental capacity, and it seems that the effect is most marked among those already below average. There is an independent effect of endogamy, but the effect of heterosis seems to be less than previously thought. Family size and composition affect stature, weight and mental capacity, and this effect is independent of socio-professional status.

Although recent historic studies have shown high rates of population turnover prior to, during and after the demographic transition, little is known about the causes and consequences of migration, particularly during late adolescence when migration rates are highest. This paper assesses the relationship (a) between socio-occupational mobility and premarital migration patterns and (b) between these measures of mobility and family formation. Linked vital data for ever-married cohorts born between 1855 and 1974 on Sanday, Orkney Islands, Scotland, provided an opportunity for evaluation of changes in (1) distance migrated between birth and marriage and (2) age at marriage in a small rural isolate characteristic of other populations undergoing modernization. Measures of socio-occupational mobility indicated a secular increase in upper social classes and in labour force participation, particularly in non-agricultural sectors of the economy. Migration distance between birth and marriage decreased over time, associated with a convergence in the pattern of spatial mobility between population subgroups. Whereas there was little relationship between age at marriage and measures of spatial and socio-occupational mobility, changes in migration were strongly influenced by opportunities which differed between social classes and between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors of the island economy.

This paper, based on data from two independent but concurrent studies, seeks to show that the explanation for the inconclusive results concerning fertility and family type in India lies in the failure of previous researchers to take account of an important intervening variable, the family life cycle. Fertility levels are examined in nuclear and joint families in a village in Western India and changes in relationships at different stages in the family cycle are considered. The most important conclusion is that aggregate level observations which indicate that fertility varies according to family type are misleading. When other relevant factors such as age or stage in the family life cycle are controlled, there is little evidence of any intrinsic connection between fertility and family type.

In the Ntomba of Zaire, observation on weaning patterns shows that the young primipara receives special attention in terms of nutrition and expected activities. Anthropometric examination shows that there is a pronounced effect on physique, the resulting accumulation of fat providing a buffer against seasonal variation in food availability, and allowing her to meet the high energy cost of nursing. The biological effects of these cultural practices suggest that they should be regarded as adaptive.

This paper explores factors affecting the fertility of islanders off the north coast of Sri Lanka, the centre of concentration of the Sri Lanka Tamils. The variables contributing most to the fertility variation among Grama Sevaka divisions, are the proportions of elderly in the population, of females employed to total employed, and of females aged 5–14 attending school. Overall, however, only 43% of the total fertility variation is explained, considerably less than in other Sri Lanka areas studied.

This paper examines rates of marital childlessness in the developing countries of the world and separates them into voluntary, involuntary and related components through a decision-tree model based on fecundity, contraceptive behaviour, pregnancy status, age, years married, and other variables. The principal data are taken from World Fertility Surveys. The conclusion is reached that virtually all of the permanent childlessness in the developing countries examined is involuntary.

It is generally thought that birthweight varies with the sex of the infant, gestational age and parity; there is, however, some controversy as to whether birthweight increases monotonically with parity. Further, some have suggested that maternal height and social class are also important, whilst earlier authors stressed the importance of genetic factors. This paper re-examines these relationships on the basis of an analysis of data on 6472 women who had a sequence of two or more singleton live births. The analysis shows first that the raw birthweights increase up to the fourth birth and that there are strong correlations between successive birthweights. However, when the birthweights are standardized for gestational age, maternal height, parity and sex, the relation between birthweight and parity almost disappears. On the other hand, the correlations between successive birthweights remain among the standardized scores, suggesting that there are other features specific to the mother which affect birthweight.

The records of 15 years of paediatric necropsies in the Department of Pathology of the Hospital San Ignacio in Bogota were reviewed and the results classified according to the various types of genetic pathology. It is shown that out of 1463 paediatric necropsies, 377 (25·8%) had either a congenital defect or a disease considered as genetic to some extent. Simple Mendelian diseases and chromosomal disorders account together for more than 5% of the total deaths. When the pathologies with a complex genetic contribution to the aetiology are also taken into account, the figure rises to more than 20%. Overall, the study shows that the burden of genetic pathology is also important in countries, like Colombia, where other causes of death have traditionally been the main concern of public health measures.

Mortality differentials among urban residents who were classified by period of residence in a rapidly industrialized city were analysed for those aged 20 and over dying between April 1974 and March 1978. The highest mortality in the male population appeared in the group with under 5 years of residence, and this was attributed to the high age-specific death rates at age 50 and over. In females, a mortality excess conspicuous in those under age 50 was observed in the group with over 20 years of residence. Age-adjusted death rates by leading causes of death differed among the groups by period of residence; the rates from malignant neoplasms and senility for the population with under 5 years of residence were greater in males, but smaller in females than those of the total population. The mortality for the male population with under 5 years of residence was considered to be related to the health of the aged when they migrated.

This study reports the first analysis of mortality differentials in Nepal. Longitudinal survey data collected from four districts indicate infant mortality was lower and child survival higher in the hill than in the plains (Terai) region, but that the differential narrowed between 1975 and 1978. In addition, child survival varied directly with education and landholdings within both regions. Possible explanations for the findings include the presence of vertical and integrated family planning and maternal and child health programmes and differential access to and utilization of health care and health facilities.

In rural Tanzania, evidence is provided that socioeconomic development is more important in lowering mortality than the provision of health facilities and services. The impact of socioeconomic development on mortality is shown in the study.

This study, using an undergraduate sample, examines the relationship between ten independent variables and their interactions, on two IQ components and sixteen personality factors. There was a highly significant relationship between both IQ components and subject studied at university, and between the verbal IQ component and birth order. A relationship between smoking habit and personality was also found.

The number of years of schooling and adult social class of 1417 adoptees are found to correlate with the social class of both their biological and adoptive fathers. For female adoptees the effect of both paternal social class values upon own social class appears to be mediated through the influence of the former upon years of schooling. For male adoptees, some residual direct correlations of paternal social class with offspring's social class, independent of years of schooling in the adoptee, are observed.