| Lack of birth seasonality in a nineteenth-century agricultural population: Escazú, Costa Rica. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 8449485 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Demographic studies repeatedly indicate that human births tend to fluctuate in a seasonal pattern, particularly in agricultural groups. Interestingly, lack of seasonal variation has been infrequently reported. Recently, Arcury et al. (1990) indicated that only one published study identified a population in which no seasonality of births was demonstrated. Here, I report the results of a historical demographic study that investigates whether Escazú, a nineteenth-century population from Costa Rica, experienced birth seasonality. The data set consists of certificates of baptisms from 1851 to 1901 collected at the Parish of San Miguel de Escazú, Costa Rica. The data are an accurate reflection of the actual number of births in the population because even newborn infants who appeared to be in imminent danger of dying (and who subsequently did) were baptized. The baptism series was analyzed by fitting an ARIMA model (0, 1, 1) and cross-correlating it with two climatic series: rainfall and temperature. The autocorrelation analysis of the baptism data fails to demonstrate any cyclical pattern of births in Escazú. Moreover, there is no indication that temperature or rainfall influences the frequency of births. This lack of seasonality is unexpected in an agrarian population such as Ecazú. The results of this analysis indicate that human fertility cycles might not be as prevalent as previously thought. |
| | |
Authors:
|
L Madrigal |
Related Documents
:
|
11950545 - Season of birth in japanese patients with schizophrenia. 18067015 - Birth order pattern in the inheritance of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and related lym... 3076805 - Schizophrenia, season of birth, and maternal age. 16009195 - Interplay between maternal weight and seasons in determining the secondary sex ratio of... 7604235 - Transcutaneous bilirubinometry as a screening tool for neonatal jaundice. 6550145 - Parental goals and the birthing experience. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Historical Article; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Human biology Volume: 65 ISSN: 0018-7143 ISO Abbreviation: Hum. Biol. Publication Date: 1993 Apr |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 1993-04-12 Completed Date: 1993-04-12 Revised Date: 2011-04-18 |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 0116717 Medline TA: Hum Biol Country: UNITED STATES |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 255-71 Citation Subset: IM; Q |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa 33620. |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Agriculture Birth Rate / trends* Catholicism Costa Rica / epidemiology History, 19th Century History, 20th Century Humans Infant Mortality Infant, Newborn Models, Statistical Registries / statistics & numerical data Rural Population Seasons* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Pregnancy loss in Nomadic and settled women in Turkana, Kenya: a prospective study.
Next Document: Some factors affecting the secondary sex ratio in a Latin American sample.