Nutritional status of infants and young children in India across three decades: Analysis of five national family health surveys.

BACKGROUND: Three indicators of early childhood undernutrition and associated factors are evaluated among under-5 children in five National Family Health Surveys in India spanning 1992 to 2021. METHODS: Data for 533,495 children under 5 years of age (U-5) were analysed in the context of three commonly used indicators of early childhood undernutrition - wasting, stunting and underweight. In addition to descriptive and inferential statistics, binary logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of specific explanatory factors on the three indicators using adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: Over the three-decade interval, stunting was reduced by 22.1% in boys and 20.9% in girls, followed by underweight, 19.3% in boys and 17.4% in girls; wasting, in contrast, was reduced to a considerably lesser extent, 2.8% in boys and 0.9% in girls. Demographic, maternal and socioeconomic factors were associated with the incidence of early childhood undernutrition, specifically among young mothers and those with less education in low-income families, and among children from Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes. Stunting and underweight declined significantly over the past three decades while wasting changed negligibly. The disparity in the occurrence of early childhood undernutrition was apparent throughout socioeconomic categories and regions of India. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the need for special programs aimed at reducing waste among children and also the need for customized initiatives focused on the improvement of maternal education and wealth in addition to other ancillary factors related to regional variation.

Variation in body size and weight status among Hindu and Muslim Indian males born in the 1890s through the 1950s.

Hindus and Muslims represent the two largest religions in India, and also differ in nutritional status, health-related habits and standard of living associated with economic disparities. In this context, the present study considered estimated secular changes in body size, proportions, and weight status among Hindu and Muslim Indian men. The data are from anthropological surveys in the 1970s which included measurements of height, weight and sitting height of 43,950 males 18-84 years (birth years 1891-1957). Leg length was estimated; the BMI and sitting height/height ratio were calculated. Heights of men 35 + years were adjusted for estimated height loss with age. Weight status was also classified relative to WHO criteria for the BMI. Anthropometric characteristics of the two groups were compared with MANCOVA with age and geographic region as covariates. Linear regression of height on year of birth was also used to estimate secular change in each group. Heights, weights, and BMIs tended to be, on average, greater among Muslim than Hindu men at most ages, while distributions by weight status between groups were negligible. Sitting height was greater among Muslim men but estimated leg length did not differ between groups; the sitting height/height ratio thus suggested proportionally shorter legs among Muslim men. Results of the regression analyses indicated negligible differences in secular change between groups across the total span of birth years but indicated a decline in adjusted heights of men in both groups born between 1891 through 1930s and little secular change among those born in the 1930s through 1957. The variation in heights, weights and BMIs between Muslim and Hindu men at most ages suggested variation in socio-economic status and dietary habits between the groups, whereas the negligible estimated secular changes in height between groups likely reflected economic, social, and nutritional conditions during the interval of British rule and the transition to independence.

Regional variation in body size and estimated secular change among adult Indian males born in the 1890s-1950s.

Regional variation in the body size of Indian men 18-84 years of age (birth years 1891-1957) was considered. Heights, weights, and BMIs of Indian males from four regions of the country - North, East-Northeast, Central, and West were compared. Heights of men 35+ years of age were adjusted for estimated height loss with age; the estimate was added to observed height to provide an estimate of maximum height. Linear regressions of measured height and estimated maximum height on year of birth were used to evaluate secular change by region. Differences in measured and estimated maximum heights and weight among regions were significant in all age groups, while differences in the BMI were significant in all age groups except 55+ years. Men from the North region were tallest and those from the East-Northeast region were shortest, while body weight and the BMI varied among regions. Regression analyses of year of birth on measured and estimated maximum heights indicated small differences in estimates of secular change among regions but suggested a decline in estimated maximum heights with age among men in the four regions born in 1891 through the 1930s, and small but variable estimates of secular change in heights among men born in the 1930s through 1957. The variation likely reflected socio-economic disparities and ecological differences among regions, and by inference nutritional status though data are limited.

Body size and weight status of adult Indian males born in the 1890s-1950s: Age and secular change in the context of demographic, economic, and political transformation.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate secular change in body size and weight status of adult Indian males born in 1891-1957 and surveyed in the 1970s. METHODS: Data are from Anthropological Surveys. Only men were included in the surveys due to high female illiteracy and lack of female researchers. Indian society was also strongly conservative at the time, especially in rural areas, and the measurement of women by men was not permitted. Heights and weights of 43 950 males 18-84 years (born 1891-1957) were measured. The BMI was calculated; weight status of individuals was classified relative to WHO criteria and suggested criteria for the Asia-Pacific region. Heights of men 35+ years were also adjusted for age-related stature loss. Trends in measured and adjusted heights, body weight and the BMI, and in weight status were evaluated by age groups. Linear regression of measured height and adjusted height on year of birth was used to estimate secular effects. RESULTS: Mean heights declined slightly with age to 50 years and declined sharply through 60+ years, while mean weights increased into the 40s and then declined. Mean BMIs were relatively stable from 30 to 60 years. The prevalence of thinness and normal weight was high, while that of overweight and obesity was low. Regression analyses indicated limited secular change across the total range of birth years but suggested a decline in adjusted heights among men born in 1891 through the 1930s, and little change among men born subsequently. CONCLUSIONS: Age-related trends and results of the regression analyses by year of birth indicated negligible secular change in heights of Indian men 18-84 years born between 1891 and 1957. BMIs indicated a high prevalence of thinness and normal weight and low prevalence of overweight and obesity.

From little girls to adult women: Changes in age at marriage in Scheduled Castes from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Research confirms the negative relationship between early marriage and mothers' and children's health outcomes. This is why studies of the changes in age at marriage are an important task from the point of view of the health status and well-being of a mother and her offspring, especially in groups represented by extremely disadvantaged social strata in India. The results of such studies may influence the future family planning policy in the country. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the trend of age at marriage among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) women from two Indian states: Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh relative to the level of education and also to socioeconomic changes in the states. These states manifest the highest proportion of girls getting married below the age of 18 years-far above the proportion observed in entire India. METHODS: Women from Scheduled Caste, N = 1,612, aged 25-65, born in 1950-1990 were investigated. A modern semiparametric regression approach was used. To capture the relationship between age at marriage and year of birth, categories of women's level of education (illiterate; primary: 1st-5th standards; middle school: 6th-8th standards; high school: 9th-10th standards; higher secondary: 11th-12th standards), and categories of the profession (women working in the agricultural sector or the non-agricultural sector), flexible framework of the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied. RESULTS: A significant impact of the cohort defined by the year of birth (<0.001), and women's education (<0.001) on age at marriage was noted, while the influence of women's occupation was not significant (p = 0.642). Mean age at marriage differed significantly with different education level. Women who graduated from primary school married 0.631 years later on average than illiterate ones, while those who graduated from middle schools, high schools (9th-10th standards) and higher secondary schools married significantly later than illiterate ones by 1.454 years and 2.463 years, respectively. Age at marriage increased over time: from slightly above 15 years in the cohort of illiterate women born in 1950 to almost 19 years in quite well-educated women born in 1990. The average age at marriage estimated for four education levels in 1990 ranged between 16.39 years (95%CI: 15.29-17.50) in the group of illiterate women and 18.86 years (95%CI: 17.76-19.95) in women graduated from high and higher secondary schools. CONCLUSION: The rise of age at marriage can be partly explained by the increase of females enrolled in schools, the alleviation of poverty, and the implementation of social programs for women.

Age at menarche, environmental stress, and social inequality: Evidence from Poland in the 1930s-1950s.

OBJECTIVE: To address the relationship between socioeconomic factors and age of menarche among Polish women born and reared in periods that varied considerably in environmental stresses: the Great Depression of the 1930s, the interval of World War II, and the interval of communist rule following World War II through the 1950s. METHODS: The data set included information on age at menarche and socioeconomic status (SES) of 718 women born during the Great Depression (n = 182), WWII (n = 189), and post-WWII through the 1950s (n = 347). A structured semi-parametric statistical model (generalized additive model [GAM] class) was used for analysis. An ANOVA-like linear model was used to test for marginal effects of SES-related factors and their interactions together with nonparametric seasonal effect. RESULTS: The influence of period of birth, month of birth, region of early childhood, and father's education, and the interaction between period of birth and father's education on age at menarche were statistically significant. During the economic crisis and the interval of WWII, differences in ages at menarche between the extreme categories of father's education were marked. The differences in ages at menarche between women from the lowest and highest social groups were markedly reduced among women born during the post-war interval. In addition, women born in February-March attained menarche earlier than women born in September-October. CONCLUSIONS: Unpredictable conditions associated with the economic crisis and war conditions had a stronger impact on age at menarche among women from families of lower SES compared to women from better economic circumstances. Individuals born and reared in low SES conditions likely suffered more severe deterioration across the spectrum of the standard of living and quality of life compared to those with a higher SES.

The strong impact of maternal marital status on birth body size before and during the Second World War in Poznan district, Poland.

OBJECTIVES: The study aims to examine whether maternal socio-economic status, represented by marital status and the place of residence, affected birth body size (BBS) of babies in the pre-war period and during the WWII. METHODS: The dataset consisted of 8934 unique individual information items on mothers and deliveries collected for two birth cohorts: born before (1934, 1935, 1936, and 1937) and during the WWII (1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944). BBS (weight, length, BMI) was compared according to mother's marital status and her place of residence in two cohorts separately. (ART)ANOVA was applied to test the effect of a child's sex, maternal marital status (MMS), and maternal place of residence (MPR) on birth weight/length/BMI of babies born alive before and during the WWII. RESULTS: Babies with greater BBS were born to married mothers than to single ones. This pattern applied to pre-war and to the WWII cohort. In both pre-war and the WWII cohorts the MMS had the strongest impact on BBS. The effect of mother's place of residence on BBS was observed in the pre-war cohort only. CONCLUSIONS: Marital status could have acted through economic and social factors, level of psychosocial stress and support, social (in)stability. In the pre-war period, the place of residence much more reflected socio-economic differences between localities. Marginal economic, health and nutritional conditions associated with the WWII affected mothers regardless of the size of their place of residence.

Within-family intergenerational trends in age at menarche relative to political changes in Czechoslovakia after World War II.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to examine a secular trend in age at menarche (AAM) in the former Czechoslovak (and descendant Slovak and Czech) population in relation to its large-scale political and social events taking place after World War II. METHODS: The study included 211 women aged 18-30 (born during 1984-1998), and their relatives: mothers, sisters, and grandmothers, yielding a total of 421 women. Changes in retrospectively recalled AAM between the three generations of women (oldest-grandmothers, middle-mothers, and youngest-daughters) were studied in pairwise comparisons. Relationships between AAM and the birth/conception date were analyzed relative to three events in the post-WWII Czechoslovakia (1948, 1968, and 1989). RESULTS: AAM was the highest in the oldest generation, slightly lower in the middle generation and the lowest in the youngest generation. Mixed-Effect Model showed statistically significant interaction between the date of conception, historical events, and the period before and after the event. CONCLUSIONS: The recorded decline in AAM is congruent with secular trends reported in the literature. However, the decreasing trend was not linear and included an increase in AAM in women conceived within the five-year period after the invasion of Czechoslovakia by communist armies in 1968.

Body size at birth in babies born during World War II: The evidence from Poland.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to determine whether exposure of pregnant women to stresses caused by World War II (WWII) negatively affected pregnancy and perinatal outcomes. METHODS: Individual medical documents deposited in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Clinic of Medical University, Poznan (1934-1943; N = 7058) were evaluated. These were divided into two birth cohorts: before WWII and during it. Frequency tables were constructed for the numbers of pregnancy outcomes: miscarriages, stillbirths, live births, and neonatal deaths, according to the period of birth and sex of a child. The numbers of recorded days were standardized and the numbers of cases per day were computed. Statistical differences in the averages (medians) between periods and years under study were tested. Birth weight, length, and body mass index (BMI) were compared according to the periods related to WWII. RESULTS: Significant differences in proportions of males, females, and subjects with unknown sex were found between the periods: a higher proportion of males and different structure of/within negative outcomes were found during WWII. Children born during WWII were heavier and longer than those born before it. CONCLUSIONS: As an explanation, adverse conditions of WWII, related to the psychological stress and food shortages, could have influenced greater elimination of fetuses and neonates of male sex during pregnancy and shortly after delivery. Higher average body size in newborns recorded during WWI could be explained by a hidden process of increased early prenatal mortality of weaker individuals, differences in average gestation length between the periods, differences in parity, or some undocumented differences in social/ethnic composition of the sample.

Season of birth is not associated with age at menarche in young adults from Central India.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to test whether birth season is associated with age at menarche in the sub-tropical climate of Central India where temperature and photoperiod differences between seasons are very small. METHODS: Date of birth and age at menarche were collected for 330 female students of Central University, Sagar. The impact of birth month and birth season on age at menarche was analyzed using ANOVA and time-to-event analysis with the use of the Kaplan-Meier curve. RESULTS: ANOVA, Kaplan-Meier estimation and Cox Proportional Hazard did not show statistically significant differences in age at menarche according to birth month and birth season. CONCLUSIONS: Constant sun exposure during the whole year, related to a stable vitamin D amount and to equal access to fruits and vegetables, may translate into a lack of association between seasons and age at menarche.

Did family size affect differences in body height in non-urbanized societies? Evidence from the Lemko community in Poland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of economic changes in the Polish territories under Austrian partition at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries on the trend in adult body height, and to examine the effect of number of children in a family, as a socioeconomic factor, on the differences in heights of males and females. Data collected in a 1939 survey for a group of 350 Lemkos living in Polish lands under the Austrian partition were obtained from archive material. Individual data were obtained for body height and number of siblings, to calculate family size. Linear regression analysis confirmed an increase in body height in males by about 1.2 cm per decade over the period 1860 to 1922. The number of children in a family did not appear to influence the mean body height of men and women. The observed positive mean body height trend probably resulted from the improvement in the economic conditions in the Austrian sector over the survey period.

Age at menarche in Polish University students born before, during and after World War II: Economic effects.

Although the relationships between economic conditions and biological variables over the past two centuries in Poland are reasonably well-documented, the influence of economic and political disruptions, including nutritional privation, during the years immediately before, during and shortly after World War II (WWII) has received less attention. This paper considers the association between age at menarche and body size of university students born before, during and after WWII and father's level of education, a commonly used indicator of family economic status in Poland. Subjects were 518 university students surveyed between 1955 and 1972, birth years 1931 through 1951. The sample was divided into three birth cohorts: before (n=237), during (n=247) and after (n=34) WWII. Age at menarche was compared among birth cohorts, and by weight status and father's level of education. Age at menarche increased slightly but significantly among women born during WWII (14.4 yrs) compared to those born before (14.2 yrs) and after (13.9 yrs) the war. Controlling for year of birth and age of the student, age at menarche was significantly earlier in overweight (13.42±0.35 yrs) than in normal weight (14.33±0.06 yrs) and thin (14.54±0.21 yrs) women. Adjusted mean ages at menarche in small samples of overweight women did not differ by father's level of education, and were earlier than corresponding ages of thin and normal weight women. Adjusted mean ages at menarche did not differ between thin and normal weight women with fathers having primary or no education, but were slightly later in thin than in normal weight women with fathers having a vocational, secondary or higher education. Although age at menarche was associated with father's level of education, young adult weight status was a somewhat more important correlate.

Body size of young adult Polish college-age women born before, during, and after WWII.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the young adult body size of Polish female university students born before, during, and after WWII. METHODS: Age, height, and weight of 492 students measured between 1956 and 1972 were accessed from the Department of Anthropology archives (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan). The sample was divided into three birth year cohorts relative to WWII: before (n = 120), during (n = 196), and after (n = 176). Birth years spanned 1935 through 1952. BMI was calculated. Body size among birth cohorts was compared with age of the student and education level of the father as covariates (ANCOVA). RESULTS: The birth cohorts differed significantly in height (P < .01), but not in weight and BMI. Women born during WWII were shorter than women born before and after the war; heights of latter cohorts did not differ. The trend for weight was similar, but differences were not significant. Birth cohorts did not differ in BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Young adult heights of women born during WWII were shorter than the heights of women born before and immediately after the war, although differences were relatively small.

BODY MASS INDEX VALUES IN THE GENTRY AND PEASANTRY IN NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY POLAND.

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of social and occupational status on the BMI of the gentry and peasantry in the Kingdom of Poland at the turn of 19th and early 20th centuries. Use was made of data on the height and weight of 304 men, including 200 peasants and 104 gentlemen, and 275 women, including 200 from the peasantry and 75 from the gentry. Gentlemen were characterized by a greater body height than peasants (169.40 cm and 166.96 cm, respectively), a greater body weight (67.09 kg and 60.99 kg, respectively) and a higher BMI (23.33 kg/m2 and 21.83 kg/m2, respectively). Landowners and intelligentsia had a greater BMI than peasants (23.12 kg/m2 and 24.20 kg/m2 vs 21.83 kg/m2, respectively). In the case of women, there were no statistically significant differences in mean height, weight and BMI by their social position, and in BMI by occupational status. Underweight occurred less frequently in the gentry and more frequently in the peasantry (0.97% and 2.04%, respectively). Overweight was five times more common in gentlemen than in peasants (26.21% and 5.10%, respectively). Differences in the BMI of gentlefolk and peasants resulted from differences in diet and lifestyle related to socioeconomic status.

Body mass index values of conscripts in the Polish lands under Prussian rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) of conscripts from the Polish lands under Prussian rule and its causative factors and changes over time was to characterize. A total of 9965 conscripts aged 20 were examined. Differences in the mean BMI were tested using one-way analysis of variance ANOVA and Tukey's-test (post-hoc test). Factor analysis and multiple regression were employed. The highest BMI values characterized sons of peasants, workers and craftsmen, and the lowest, sons of intelligentsia: the difference for peasants/intelligentsia -0.59kg/m(2) (p=0.0004), and that for workers/intelligentsia and craftsmen/intelligentsia, 0.48 and 0.5kg/m(2) (p=0.0004 and p=0.0057, respectively). The difference in BMI of conscripts from the first and last birth cohorts was 0.61kg/m(2) (p=0.0001). The highest BMI values were noted in conscripts from villages (21.50kg/m(2)), and the lowest, in those from towns (21.15kg/m(2)) and cities (21.19kg/m(2)). The differences for village/town and village/city were statistically significant (p=0.0026 and p=0.0026, respectively). The BMI difference between Poles and Germans was 0.35kg/m(2) (higher value among Poles).

Biological and Cultural Causes of Seasonality of Deaths in Historical Populations From Poland.

Seasonal fluctuations in mortality and their causes in the nineteenth century Polish rural populations: wealthy, agriculturally and economically advanced populations from Wielkopolska, and poor populations from Silesia and Galicia (southern Poland) were described. Data-sources included parish death registers from the Roman Catholic parish of Dziekanowice in the region of Wielkopolska, Prussian statistical yearbooks for the Pozna Province as well as information from previous publications regarding Silesia and Galicia. The 19th century patterns were compared with those in present-day Poland. The occurrence of seasonality of deaths was assessed with: the Chi-squared test, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Models (ARIMA). In all populations there was a winter maximum of the number of deaths, while the minimum occurred in early summer. In the poor populations of Silesia and Galicia another statistically significant increase in the incidence of deaths was observed in the early spring. In the rich and modern villages of Wielkopolska there was no spring increase in the number of deaths, however, in all populations of Wielkopolska, irrespective of a particular pattern, a secondary mortality peak occurred in the late summer and autumn. Statistical tests used in this study did not show any clear differences in the distribution of the seasonality of deaths between the populations of Wielkopolska on the one hand, and the populations from Galicia and Silesia, on the other hand. The statistical significance of differences was, however, evident between populations representing the two distinguished by secondary peaks death seasonality patterns. Seasonal death increase split the populations under study into two groups according to the criterion of wealth.

Height as an indicator of economic status in the Polish territories under Russian rule at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.

Height is regarded as one of the indicators of environmental stress at population level, being an excellent barometer of standard of living. The aim of this study was to describe diversity in height among populations living in different regions of the Kingdom of Poland in terms of the economic factors in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. This study examines the height of adult inhabitants from five guberniyas (provinces) of the Kingdom of Poland (Lomza, Warsaw, Radom, Kalisz and Plock) collected in the years 1897-1914 (N = 732 men, N = 569 women). Differences in average height of male and female inhabitants across the five guberniyas were examined using ANOVA and the Fisher's LSD (Least Significant Difference) test of multiple comparisons. Statistically significant differences in the height between the guberniyas were observed. Diversity in the economic development in the studied guberniyas of the Kingdom of Poland translated into differences in the height of their inhabitants. Moreover, an increase in mean height over time was noted.

Infant and child mortality among Catholics and Lutherans in nineteenth century Poznan.

The purpose of this study was to show the differences in the mortality rates of children from Catholic and Lutheran families in 19th century Poznan, and to elucidate the causes of these differences. Data from Catholic and Lutheran parish death registers were used. The infant death rate (IDR), neonatal and postneonatal death rates and life table biometric functions were calculated and causes of deaths were characterized. The worst child mortality values (IDR=394.4; neonatal and postneonatal death rates, respectively, 117.1 and 277.4; e0=16.14 years; Crow's Index=2.47) were obtained for the poor Catholic Parish of St Margaret. The lowest infant and neonatal and postneonatal death rates were observed to have occurred in the Catholic Parish of St Maria Magdalena situated in the city's more affluent central area (mortality rates, respectively, 269.9, 93.1 and 176.9; e0=24.63 years; Crow's Index=0.96). The widest range of differences with regard to death rates was found for the Lutheran Parish of St Cross (the infant, neonatal and postneonatal death rates were, respectively, 293.1, 99.1 and 193.9; e0=28.03 years; Crow's Index=0.92). The St Cross Parish encompassed a fairly large area of the city characterized by varying ecological conditions. Among infants and young children from the three studied populations a high frequency of deaths due to infectious diseases, diarrhoeas, dysenteries and tuberculosis were observed. Differences in the mortality of children from Catholic and Lutheran families in 19th century Poznan resulted from ecological conditions, among which water played the most important role, rather than from religious differences.

Urban and rural differences in mortality and causes of death in historical Poland.

The purpose of this paper is to document and interpret urban-rural differences in mortality in the past. To this end, we used data on mortality in Wielkopolska, Poland, in the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. The data on mortality in rural areas (N = 1,173,910 deceased), small towns (N = 573,903 deceased), and Poznan, the capital of the Wielkopolska region (N = 86,352 deceased), were gathered from original Prussian statistical yearbooks (Preussische Statistik). Causes of death were also analyzed (rural areas, N = 449,576 deceased; small towns, N = 238,365 deceased; Poznan, N = 61,512 deceased). Mortality measures such as crude death rate (CDR), infant death rate (IDR), and neonatal and postneonatal death rates were calculated. Life tables were constructed for both stationary and stable population models and measures of the opportunity for natural selection calculated (Crow's index I(m), potential gross reproduction rate R(pot), and biological state index I(bs)). Relative frequencies of leading causes of death were computed. Stratification depending on the place of residence was evident in all mortality measures as well as in the values of the life tables and the measures of the opportunity for natural selection, but it was reverse of what is observed today in developed countries. In Poznan (a large industrial city), the mortality situation was the least favorable. It was caused by large population density, lack of water supply and sewage systems (up to 1896), and bad working conditions. The values of CDR ranged between 26.89-31.46, and IDR between 190.6-280.5. Newborn life expectancy (for a stable population model) was 31.6 years, I(m) = 0.79, R(pot) = 0.85, and I(bs) = 0.47. The most common causes of death were tuberculosis, other diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems, dysentery and diarrhea, and cancer. These diseases were less common in rural areas, so they had the most favorable values of mortality measures (CDR between 22.87-27.32, IDR between 181.8-219.4, life expectancy of newborn e(0) = 42.12, I(m) = 0.55, R(pot) = 0.93, I(bs) = 0.60). Infectious diseases (other than tuberculosis), frailty at birth, and frailty in old age were the most frequent causes of death in rural areas. Small towns (population <20,000) had a mortality intermediate between city and rural areas.

Demographic trends and biological status of historic populations from Central Poland: the Ostrów Lednicki microregion.

The microregion of Ostrów Lednicki in the province of Wielkopolska was the center of the formation of the Polish State in Early Middle Ages. The analysis of skeletal remains and parish records from the region documented the biological status of inhabitants and its changes over a millennium. The study material comprised 424 human skeletons from an Early Medieval burial ground on Lake Lednica, records of 2,704 deaths from the registers of the Roman Catholic parish of Dziekanowice, made between 1818-1903, data on the deaths of 929,192 inhabitants of rural areas all over the province Wielkopolska obtained from Prussian statistical materials for the years 1865-1900, and comparative data from the literature. Assuming both a stationary population model and a stable population model with nonzero natural increase, parameters of life tables and measures of opportunity for natural selection (Crow's index I(m), potential gross reproductive rate R(pot), and the biological state index I(bs)) were calculated for the Early Middle Ages and for the two periods of the 19th century which were characterized by different laws of land ownership and thus different rural economies. In the first period, peasants were tenants, whereas in the second, they were given freehold of the land they cultivated. Causes of death were also analyzed. A distinct increase in longevity from the early Middle Ages to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was found. This was related to a higher level of demographic development in the parish of Dziekanowice during the 19th century, which was achieved earlier than in other areas of Poland. This was confirmed by genetic measures: coefficients of exogamy and coefficients of kinship. The reasons were related to the historical prominence of this region and to its proximity to the first two capitals of the Polish state, Gniezno and Poznan.