Living arrangements, patrilineality and sources of support among elderly Vietnamese.

PIP: This study examined social support for the elderly in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City and Hanoi, Viet Nam, in 1996. The sample included the main towns and provinces surrounding the cities. Two major findings were that the family was the main source of social security for the elderly. Almost 75% of the elderly in Hanoi, and 80% in HCM City, lived with at least 1 adult child. Parents were more likely to live with a married son. Most of the remaining elderly lived in close proximity to adult children. Over 50% of the elderly lived in households with at least 3 generations, regardless of their location in the north or the south. Older elderly were more likely to live in 3-generation households. 5-6% of the elderly lived alone or with a spouse and did not live near an adult child. Living alone was more prevalent in rural areas and among women. In both regions, almost 60% were female and over 50% were aged under 70 years. 56.6-61.8% were currently married; 37.3-38.1% were widowed. The elderly functioned within a strong patrilineal system. The proportion of male children who lived with a parent divided by the proportion of female children living with a parent (patrilineal ratio) was at least 3 times higher in Hanoi, urban towns, and rural areas in the Red River Delta, than in HCM City and its environs. There was substantial variation in non-family support. A higher proportion of elderly in Hanoi received pensions and social welfare benefits. The elderly in the south were less likely to name themselves or their spouses as the main sources of family income.^ieng

Infant feeding practices in Viet Nam.

PIP: Data from the 1988 Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey and the 1994 Demographic Survey are used to determine the trends in breast feeding and amenorrhea among ever married women of reproductive age. Life table procedures are used to calculate monthly probabilities of weaning. Then five month moving averages of equal weight are computed for observed monthly probabilities of weaning. The smoothed probabilities are used to calculate the cumulative proportion weaned at successive monthly ages. Breast feeding is universal in Vietnam. Infants are put to the breast earlier when delivery occurs at home. Almost all children are breast fed through the first six months, and 80% are breast fed for a year. The median duration was 15.3 months in the 1988 survey and 15.9 months in the 1994 survey based on life table methods. Calculations based on current status methods were slightly higher for both years. Rural women tended to breast feed longer than urban women. Children who had mothers working in agriculture were breast fed longer than children whose mothers had other occupations. Socioeconomic factors did not correlate well with breast feeding duration. Findings indicate that over 66% of breast fed infants aged under 3 months were given plain water, and over 90% of infants aged 3-5 months were given plain water. Fresh cow's milk is not given to Vietnamese infants. Juices were given to children aged older than 6 months. Sugar water was given to younger infants. The introduction of supplemental liquids was more common in urban areas. Few infants during the first few months of life were given solid or mushy foods. But by 4 months of age, 50% of infants were given solid or mushy foods, and the practice was more common in rural areas. The urban-rural gap closed by 6 months of age. Over 90% of infants received solids at 9 months. It is expected that modernization will negatively impact on breast feeding.^ieng