Causal attributions in Brazilian children's reasoning about health and illness.

Introduction: At a time when a great number of diseases can be prevented by changing one's habits and life style, investigations have focused on understanding what adults and children believe to be desirable health practices and uncovering the factors associated with successful adherence to such practices. For these, causal attributions for health and illness were investigated among 96 Brazilian elementary school students.

Methods: Ninety six subjects, aged 6 to 14, were interviewed individually and their causal attributions were assessed through 14 true-false items (e.

Maternal size at birth and the development of hypertension during pregnancy: a test of the Barker hypothesis.

Background: Whether individuals who were small at birth are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (the Barker hypothesis) is a topic of great controversy. Although an increased risk has been suggested by several reports, the reports have been criticized for being based on ill-defined populations, for the large numbers of subjects who were unavailable for follow-up, and for inadequate control of socioeconomic status.

Objective: To determine whether a woman's weight and gestational age at birth predict the development of hypertension during her subsequent pregnancies.

Cross-cultural differences in children's concepts of health and illness.

Introduction: In spite of general agreement that cross-cultural research is needed in the health area, most existing investigations of children's development of health and illness-related concepts have involved samples from developed countries. The study examined the development of the concepts of health and illness as a function of subject's age, socio-economic status (SES), gender and grade level in a Brazilian sample of 96 elementary and junior high school students.

Methods: Subjects were interviewed individually and their ideas of health and illness were assessed through open-ended questions.

Father's effect on infant birth weight.

Objective: We sought to determine whether paternal size at birth and during young adulthood influences the birth weight of the offspring.

Study Design: This historic cohort study followed up girls born in Copenhagen during 1959 to 1961. Their pregnancies in 1974 to 1989 were traced through the Danish Population Register, and the Personal Identification Numbers of the fathers of the children were obtained.

Preterm and small-for-gestational-age birth across generations.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether women who were themselves small for gestational age at birth are at risk of giving birth to a small-for-gestational-age child and whether women who were themselves preterm at birth are at risk for preterm delivery.

Study Design: Women born in Copenhagen as subjects in the Danish Perinatal Study (1959 to 1961) were traced through the Danish Population Register. Information was obtained on their pregnancies during 1974 through 1989.