The aim of this proposal is to enhance the scientific value of the forthcoming 5th round of the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) by collecting data on the non-resident parents of respondents in the MDICP. The MDICP has received funding from NIH to examine the consequences of AIDS-related morbidity and mortality for the adult respondents in the longitudinal study begun in 1998, including a new sample of the coresident elderly parents of the adult respondents.

This study is designed to investigate the effects of nutrition and disease on child growth and adult health. Among the principal outcome variables to be investigated are insulin resistance and diabetes. The main input variables are birth weight, breastfeeding, and childhood nutrition and disease. We will use multilevel, multivariate models to investigate these relations. The rich longitudinal data available from the INCAP project in El Progreso, Guatemala will enable us to estimate directly the impact of childhood disease and nutrition on adult outcomes.

A growing body of research is interested in the roles of health literacy in affecting health outcomes. Improving health literacy among Americans is one of the health goals specified in Health People 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, there are some important gaps in the existing literature. Most research has primarily focused on very specific groups of people within specific health care settings using measures of health literacy that are designed only for medical setting.

With individuals living longer and the aging of the Baby Boomer cohort, the US is experiencing a demographic revolution. Given that risk of dementia increases substantially with age, this aging revolution will drastically increase the prevalence of dementia unless interventions to prevent or delay it are found. Physical activity has been identified as a potential intervention to lower the risk of dementia and/or improve/maintain cognitive function.

Genetic sequencing allows reconstructing the specific HIV transmission chains through which the virus has diffused and evolved within a population. From the perspective of social science AIDS research, this represents a unique opportunity: such techniques (i) provide objective measurements of the (sexual) connections between members of a population, and (ii) allow new measurements of the HIV-1 diffusion process—the actual transmission of HIV and the diversification of the virus during transmission in sexual networks—whose determinants have largely been understudied.

The AIDS epidemic has significantly curtailed the lifespan in a number of developing countries, particularly on the African continent. The purpose of this pilot project is to study behavioral responses to the AIDS epidemic using recently collected data from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP).

The Toba represent one of the many indigenous groups inhabiting the Gran Chaco of South America. They currently live in communities with different degrees of acculturation.  We present here a preliminary data on fecundity and mortality estimates for a rural Toba population located in the province of Formosa, Argentina.  Reproductive histories (n = 435) were obtained from villagers 12 years old and older.

The main goal of this project is to evaluate the effect of Chile’s pension system rules and regulations on individuals’ contribution patterns. The few empirical studies on the Chilean Pension System have been limited to the use of aggregate and macro data. This project’s contribution is to analyze pension contribution patterns under the Chilean AFP system using micro data and state-of-the-art modeling methods.

In Malawi, researchers studying AIDS have difficulty locating papers and reports that describe previous research. As a result, most research projects begin anew. We thus propose to build on the wide range of contacts that we have developed over nearly a decade of research in Malawi to create the Malawi AIDS Research Database (MARD) to be housed at the College of Medicine (COM) at the University of Malawi.

Obesity is a major cause of premature aging and the second leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States, accounting for approximately 110,000 deaths per year. Financial incentives have been effective in modifying a number of health behaviors but they have not been applied to weight loss by low- SES obese veterans.