Infant Mortality and Undernutrition in the Squatter Settlements of Karachi

The socio-demographic and biological processes contributing to infant mortality and undernourishment were studied in five urban squatter settlements of Karachi. All those families who had experienced an infant death in the past 2 years (N = 106) were recruited into the study. Comparative children we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of tropical pediatrics (1980) 1990-06, Vol.36 (3), p.135-140
Main Authors: Thaver, I. H., Ebrahim, G. J., Richardson, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Deficiency Diseases - mortality
Demography
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant Mortality
Infant, Newborn
Medical sciences
Metabolic diseases
Other nutritional diseases (malnutrition, nutritional and vitamin deficiencies...)
Pakistan - epidemiology
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Poverty
Socioeconomic Factors
Tropical medicine
Urban Population
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Summary:The socio-demographic and biological processes contributing to infant mortality and undernourishment were studied in five urban squatter settlements of Karachi. All those families who had experienced an infant death in the past 2 years (N = 106) were recruited into the study. Comparative children were selected by random numbers with geographical matching from families with at least one live infant and without a history of infant deaths in the past 2 years. The comparison children were weighed and those found underweight (27 per cent) were studied for the presence of risk factors. Forty-one per cent of all deaths were in the neonatal period, and in 47 per cent of cases deaths had occurred in infants with a birth order of 5 and above. Age, duration of breast feeding, birth interval, and the live/dead status of the previous sibling were significant biological variables accounting for 23 per cent of the variance for survival. Socio-economic status accounted for 22 per cent of the variance and health-seeking behaviour (antenatal care, immunization, etc.) for 28 per cent. Sixty-eight per cent of those underweight were more than 6 months old. Age, female sex, birth interval
ISSN:0142-6338
1465-3664
DOI:10.1093/tropej/36.3.135