RESUMO

BACKGROUND: There is a well-established link between various measures of socioeconomic status and the schooling achievement and cognition of children. However, less is known about how cognitive development is impacted by childhood improvements in growth, a common indicator of child nutritional status. This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status and child growth and changes in cognitive achievement scores in adolescents from resource-poor settings. METHODS: Using an observational cohort of more than 3000 children from four low- and middle-income countries, this study examines the association between cognitive achievement scores and household economic, educational, and nutritional resources to give a more accurate assessment of the influence of families on cognitive development. A composite measure of cognition when children were approximately 8, 12, and 15 years of age was constructed. Household factors included maternal schooling, wealth, and children's growth. RESULTS: A positive and statistically significant relationship between household factors and child cognition was found for each country. If parents have more schooling, household wealth increases, or child growth improves, then children's cognitive scores improve over time. Results for control variables are less consistent. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest there is a consistent and strong association between parental schooling, wealth, and child growth with child cognitive achievement. Further, these findings demonstrate that a household's ability to provide adequate nutrition is as important as economic and education resources even into late childhood and adolescence. Hence, efforts to improve household resources, both early in a child's life and into adolescence, and to continue to promote child growth beyond the first few years of life have the potential to help children over the life course by improving cognition.

Assuntos

Cognição , Escolaridade , Classe Social , Adolescente , Desenvolvimento do Adolescente , Adulto , Criança , Desenvolvimento Infantil , Estudos de Coortes , Países em Desenvolvimento , Etiópia , Feminino , Humanos , Renda , Índia , Masculino , Pais , Peru , Vietnã

RESUMO

Urbanization and education have brought numerous changes in societies around the world. One change is the contact of different groups, often with an attendant increase in intergroup marriage. In this paper we examine the intergroup intermarriage in Brazil in the context of changing urbanization and education. While intergroup marriage has been intensively examined in the United States, the topic has received less attention in Brazil. We use census data from 1991 and 2000, and national survey data from 2001 and 2008 to examine factors predicting intergroup marriage and the trends in intergroup marriage in Brazil. The results show higher rates of intermarriage in urban than in rural areas. Intermarriage is less common among the most educated people. While the rates of intermarriage are increasing substantially, the rates of change are diffuse across urban and rural areas, regions and education groups.