Dental Health of Free Blacks in New York State during the Mid‐19th Century

The current research will examine the frequency of carious teeth, periapical abscesses and ante‐mortem tooth loss in the Newburgh Colored Burial Ground (1830–1870), a free black cemetery in Newburgh, New York. The Newburgh material is compared with skeletal samples from the New York African Burial Ground, New York State almshouses, a free black cemetery from Philadelphia and middle‐class/upper‐class European cemeteries. Although previous research suggests that dental health became worse throughout the 19th century, there is no consistent pattern between the 17th‐century and 18th‐century skeletal sample of enslaved blacks from New York City and 19th‐century free blacks from Newburgh and Philadelphia. The frequency of dental caries does increase through time but the other indicators change little (equal or fewer ante‐mortem tooth loss) or suggest an improvement in dental health (fewer periapical abscesses) through time. Relative to contemporaneous populations, the individuals from Newburgh appear much more similar in terms of dental health to upper‐class and middle‐class European groups than to the other marginalised groups considered in this research. The impact of the economic, political and social changes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution and their potential impact on dental health are considered. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THREE PILLARS OF ACTIVE AGEING IN INDONESIA

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of ageing in Indonesia—the fourth most populous country in the world—within the framework of active ageing. Data are from the 2005 Intercensus Population Survey, the first to gather information from older persons aged 60 and above. Findings are organised according to the three pillars of the World Health Organization's Active Ageing framework including health, participation and security. Findings suggest that: (1) good self-rated health status and functional ability are common among older persons; (2) Indonesian elders participate predominantly in home-centred leisure activities, but not in physical exercise; and (3) economic security, measured by main source of funding, varies by sex. There is great variation across Indonesia's provinces in the status of the three pillars of active ageing. Policymaking on active ageing should pay attention to the local situation, and expect differences in health, participation and security by gender and province.     

EQUALITY OF SPATIAL ACCESS TO PRIMARY HEALTH SERVICES FOR SINGAPORE'S BABY BOOMERS

The ageing baby boomers in Singapore, which account for one-third of the total population in 2006, will have a profound impact on the economy, society and environment. The greatest demand is for health care services. Even though Singapore has generally been regarded as a country where primary health services are easily available to all residents, this paper identifies significant spatial variations across the island-state. In particular, accessibility in some areas with high concentration of boomers is relatively lower compared to other residential areas. This paper concludes that understanding the spatial variation in primary health service accessibility is critical to the success of future policies, which may lead to a review of the provision of such services across the island. The methodology developed in this paper is also applicable to the study of service inequalities in other Asian countries with large rural settings.     

BIRTH ATTENDANT UTILIZATION IN THE INDONESIAN MEGA-URBAN REGIONS OF JABODETABEK,BANDUNG AND SURABAYA

Indonesia's rapidly growing mega-urban regions of Jabodetabek (Jakarta Extended Metropolitan Region), Bandung and Surabaya each have a large and socio-economically heterogeneous population. The 2000 Census presents evidence that substantial spatial and socio-economic inequalities in under-five mortality risk exist in these mega-urban regions. Differences in patterns of birth attendant utilization likely contribute to these inequalities. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression of data primarily from the National Socio-economic Survey (SUSENAS) reveals that use of a skilled birth attendant is highly associated with mother's education. Highly skilled assistance is more related to the enabling factor of household expenditure quintile. The findings provide evidence for efforts to help reduce inequalities in early age mortality risk through improved access to trained birth assistance, in addition to other interventions.     

Socioeconomic Influences on the Physical Wellbeing of Adults in Post-crisis North Korea: Regressing Women's MUAC on Available Household Data from a National Nutrition Survey

Nutritional adequacy in North Korea (DPRK) has remained spotlighted since the famine crisis of the mid-1990s. Data from national household surveys facilitated by UN agencies primarily focus on children, with interviews of their mothers. No data are collected on men, or specifically on adults. Survey data on adult escapees in China or South Korea are not representative of conditions prevailing in present-day North Korea. This study focuses on adults’ physical wellbeing by regressing women's mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) as a proxy measure on selected household data from the third DPRK nutrition assessment. The results—with sampling limitations qualified—showed that residence in the ‘rice bowl’ region and access to farmers’ markets contributed most to wellbeing; differences in gross nutrition, biological factors, household size and even educational attainment mattered little. Further, elites in the national capital were worse off than households in the remote northeast, where proximity to China has facilitated trade exchanges for survival needs. All these signal emergent changes in household coping mechanisms, possibly even in the status quo, in present-day North Korea.     

Application of Health Expectancy Research on Working Male Population in Bangladesh

Lower quality of life and more work-loss days for the workforce are barriers for economic development in Bangladesh. Using nationally representative data—the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys for the 2004–2007 period, we examined the prevalence of diseases (asthma, diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, jaundice/hepatitis, malaria/fever, tuberculosis, and other) that prevented ever-married male workers from doing their regular activities in Bangladesh, and we examined changes in partial work-loss free life expectancy (WLFLE). The study found improvements in the mean number of work-loss days as well as in WLFLE; male workers at age 30 in 2007 expected 212 days more WLFLE than male workers of the same age in 2004. Other diseases prevented 17.8 per cent of male workers in 2004 and 9.1 per cent of male workers in 2007 from doing their normal work. Malaria/fever prevented 14.4 per cent and 11.5 per cent of male workers in 2004 and 2007, respectively, from doing their normal work. In both years, of all the diseases, the other diseases category and malaria/fever were found to be the major causes preventing Bangladeshi male workers from doing their normal work. This study recommends taking action against malaria/fever so that people can continue working without health problems or illness, and it recommends identifying other diseases which cause work-loss days. It suggests collecting data for both the males and females in a consistent manner by keeping the same questions with the same wording, order, and age groups consistent over time.     

Popular Magazines and the Making of a Nation: The Healthy Baby Contest Organized by The Young Companion in 1926–27

The Young Companion, an important representative of Republican Shanghai’s popular magazines, organized a Healthy Baby Contest from August 1926 to March 1927. Though its slogan, “Strong babies promise strong people, strong people guarantee a strong nation” expressed a nationalistic spirit, this contest was rather a commercial activity organized by a popular magazine and its commercial sponsor exploiting nationalistic discourse. Such an integration of nationalistic discourse and commercial interests profoundly influenced mass culture and ultimately promoted China’s modernization and its development as a nation. With this contest as an example, this paper sheds light on the relationship between popular journals and the making of a nation.     

Health geography in Canada: where are we headed?

This paper overviews the emergence of medical/health geography in Canada. The paper discusses the key questions that Canadian health geographers have explored in the past two decades, how these enquiries have featured in the field and how they contribute to the wider discourse of human geography. It also addresses questions on emerging themes and where Canadian health geography will go in the years ahead. With shifting health landscapes in terms of changes in social, political and physical environments, and changes in health care restructuring, Canadian health geographers are entering a new phase of research, teaching and policy. The complexity of the questions that health geographers seek to address means it is necessary to continue to highlight the policy implications of their findings. Health geographers need to emphasize the public agenda through interdisciplinary research and by continuing to work with geographers in other subfields.     

新型农村合作医疗制度中的社会性别盲点及其影响

新型农村合作医疗制度的实施,结束了占全国总人口63％的农村居民缺乏医疗保障的历史,为促进社会和谐奠定了坚实的基础。然而作为一项公共政策,新型农村合作医疗制度在性别方面似乎存在不公平现象。本文在实地调查的基础上对其表现及其产生的影响进行分析和探讨。     

中国国民的健康指数及其区域差异

用“健康指数”来表征我国国民的健康状况,以预期寿命为核心,选择27项与寿命有密切关系的、能反映人的身体素质和化素质的健康指标,综合求得健康指数,基本上反映了各地区人群的健康状况及其区域差异,表明我国大城市和东南沿海地区人群的健康状况较好,西部地区稍差。