BACKGROUND Chinese women's reproductive patterns have changed significantly over the past several decades. However, relatively little is known about the pace and characteristics of these changes either overall or by region and socioeconomic status. METHODS We examined the cross-sectional data from the China Kadoorie Biobank cohort study that recruited 300 000 women born between 1930 and 1974 ...

The objective of this study was to examine dietary intake, weight status and nutrition knowledge of young black South African women in order to identify urban-rural differences. A group of 115 black female students attending a first-year pre-registration program at the University of the North participated in the study. A quantified food frequency questionnaire was used to gather data on each st...

BACKGROUND We sought to demonstrate that the relationship between urban or rural residence and overweight status among women in Sub-Saharan Africa is complex and confounded by wealth status. METHODS We applied multilevel logistic regression to data from 30 sub-Saharan African countries which were collected between 2006 and 2012 to examine the association between women's overweight status (bod...

BACKGROUND Immunization and appropriate health-seeking behavior are effective strategies to reduce child deaths. OBJECTIVES To compare maternal knowledge about immunization, use of growth chart and childhood health-seeking behavior in rural and urban areas. METHODS A cross-sectional comparative study done in Lagos, Nigeria. Questionnaire survey and focus group discussions were done. 300 res...

BACKGROUND Prenatal and postnatal visits are two effective interventions for protection and promotion of maternal health by reducing maternal mortality and improving the quality of birth. There is limited nationally representative data regarding the changes of prenatal and postnatal visits since the latest health system reform initiated in 2009 in Shaanxi, China. The aim of this study was to ex...

OBJECTIVE To compare the level of knowledge on reproductive health among urban and rural women of selected area of Bangladesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken among 200 women selected purposively from different rural and urban areas of Bangladesh. Data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire by face to face intervi...

OBJECTIVE: There is limited and inconsistent evidence concerning rural versus urban differences in birth and infant outcomes for Indigenous peoples. We assessed birth and infant outcomes among Inuit, First Nations and French mother tongue groups by rural versus urban residence in Quebec, Canada. STUDY DEIGN: A retrospective birth cohort study of 5,184 First Nations, 2,527 Inuit and 652,940 Fre...

The study attempted to identify the prevalence and distribution of risk factors of non-communicable diseases among urban and rural population in Gujarat, India. Using the WHO stepwise approach, a crosssectional study was carried out among 1,805 urban and 1,684 rural people of 15-64 years age-group. Information on behavioural and physiological risk factors of non-communicable diseases was obtain...

Women empowerment is a pre-requisite of any country’s development and decision making power of women is an indicator of women empowerment. Most of the previous studies of women decision making mainly focused on the influence of women’s decision making on the child health, child mortality, maternal health care, children drop out from school or some other socio-economic matter of women. However t...