[Self-rated health in adults: influence of poverty and income inequality in the area of residence].

Objective: To evaluate the influence of income inequality and poverty in the towns of Bogotá, Colombia, on poor self-rated health among their residents.

Methods: The study was based on a multipurpose survey applied in Bogotá-Colombia. A hierarchical data structure (individuals=level1, locations=level 2) was used to define a logit-type multilevel logistic model.

The role of the neighborhood, family and peers regarding Colombian adolescents' social context and aggressive behavior.

Objective: Examining neighborhood conditions, parenting and peer affiliations' association with adolescents' aggressive behavior. Testing various mechanisms through which neighborhood conditions influence two adolescent outcomes, both directly and indirectly (via their impact on parenting and peer-affiliation): aggression and delinquency.

Method: Data regarding adolescents was taken from a self-reporting survey of 1,686 Colombian adolescents living in 103 neighborhoods of Medellin.

Investigating neighbourhood effects on health: using community-survey data for developing neighbourhood-related constructs.

Objective: Structural and social neighbourhood constructs have been developed for studying a neighbourhood's influence on a variety of health outcomes; community surveys are being increasingly used for capturing such information. This paper has proposed a six-fold approach which integrates existing methodologies (i.e.

Violent delinquency in a Brazilian birth cohort: the roles of breast feeding, early poverty and demographic factors.

We investigated the association between breast feeding, economic factors and conviction for violent delinquency by age 25 years among subjects of the 1982 Birth Cohort from Pelotas, Southern Brazil. Information on breast-feeding pattern and duration was collected in childhood, during the 1983, 1984 and 1986 follow-ups. Information on socio-economic and family characteristics was also obtained between 1982 and 1996.

[Lessons learned from an early intervention violence prevention program in Medellín, Colombia].

Objective: To describe the components and development of the Early Prevention of Violence Program in the city of Medellín, Colombia, and to evaluate the results of its first phase, three years after implementation.

Methods: A before (2001) and after (2004) study of four variables--direct aggression, indirect aggression, prosocial behavior, and scholastic achievement--was conducted among a convenience sample of 339 program participants and their families.

Results: Several program benefits were noted.