Social class, language attitudes, and language use

This study aims to find out how far the upper middle class dominates the lower class and to find out and analyze the narratives built in textbooks when interacting with the lower class. This research uses qualitative research based on library research, where the source of data used as research material is Kindergarten B textbooks. The data is analyzed using content analysis, namely; pragmatic content analysis, semantic content analysis, and analysis of sign means. The results of the study show that the dominance of the upper middle class over the lower class is drawn through lifestyles, such as; vacation to the beach, sitting on soft sofa chairs, diving, and so on. The narrative developed in the Kindergarten B textbook focuses more on urban lifestyles and the balancing narrative that can fit into the upper and lower middle social class is not too significant. Or in another language not apple to apple. Keywords: Hegemony, Upper Middle Class, Textbooks

This study was conducted to understand the infant (0-12 month) feeding practices among different classes' mothers in Dhaka city. The study was carried out among the 183 mother-infant pair of the upper, middle and lower socio-economic classes in Dhaka city and purposive sampling method was applied. The study was conducted at following areas in Dhaka city which were selected purposively. The mean age of upper class, middle class and lower class were 35±4, 25±3 and 21±7 in years. Regarding first feeding it was observed that upper (75%), middle (85%) and lower class (48%) first gave colostrum. It also observed that 18% of upper class mother first gave powder milk, while in case of middle class it was 5%. In lower class preference of giving honey and sugar water were 21% and 12% respectively. The starting time of breast feeding indicated that in upper classes (74%) breast feeding initiated within one hour, while in middle (75%) and lower classes (84%) it was given within 12 hours. It was highlighted that 44% upper and 36% lower class mothers started complementary feeding at 3 month of the baby respectively, while in middle class 61% mother started complementary foods at 5 month of their baby. In case of duration of breast feeding practices, middle and lower classes breast-feed continued longer time than upper class. Majorities of the upper class prefered egg, soup, fruit juice while middle class liked meat-fish, egg, khichuri, fruits. On complementary feeding the lower class choiced mainly rice-potato, dal, khichuri or vegetables. The study result should not be generalise and need further large scale research. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/akmmcj.v5i2.21124 Anwer Khan Modern Medical College Journal Vol. 5, No. 2: July 2014, Pages 5-8

Introduction Daytime sleepiness impairs daily functioning and may be directly related to insufficient nighttime sleep. Previous studies have assessed disparities in sleep duration and quality, but community-level disparities in daytime sleepiness using validated measures are lacking. Methods Data were from the Sleep and Healthy Activity, Diet, Environment, and Socialization (SHADES) study of N=1007 adults age 22-60. Daytime sleepiness was assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Predictors included age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and social class (“Upper middle class or above,” “Middle class,” “Lower middle class,” “Poor,” or “Very Poor”). One-way ANOVAs evaluated group differences. Stepwise linear modeling evaluated ESS score relative to sociodemographic predictors. Final models included all variables entered together to evaluate independent effects. Finally, habitual sleep duration was entered as an additional covariate. Results ESS score was higher among racial/ethnic minorities (p=0.0006), men (p<0.0001), those with less education (p=0.008) and lower social class (p=0.0007), and those who are retired or unable to work (p=0.03); marginal differences were seen according to age (p=0.06). Using a model-building approach, age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, social class, and employment were evaluated. Only race/ethnicity (F=5.1, p=0.0004), education (F=4.8, p=0.003), and social class (F=2.14, p=0.046) incrementally added variance to model R2. No 2-way interactions were found. In the final model, significant predictors included Black/African-American race/ethnicity (B=0.94, p=0.01), some college (B=0.99, p=0.005), and being very poor (B=2.16, p=0.005). When controlling for nocturnal sleep duration, the increased sleepiness associated with being Black/African was attenuated (p=0.06), but the other relationships were still significant. Conclusion There is a “sleepiness disparity” in the population associated with race/ethnicity and socioeconomics. Daytime sleepiness in the community is associated with being Black/African-American, having some college, and being “very poor.” The race/ethnicity difference in daytime sleepiness may be partially explained by differences in total sleep time. Support This work was supported by a grant from Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The SHADES study was funded by R21ES022931. Dr. Grandner is supported by R01MD011600.

Background: Overweight and obesity are the most prevalent nutritional disorders in developed and developing countries due to rapid urbanization. Presently, the incidence of overweight, obesity and their related co-morbidities is increasing rapidly in India. Obesity itself is not an acutely lethal disease, but is a significant risk factor associated with a range of serious non-communicable diseases. Obesity is a major player responsible for increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cancer and lipid disorders. Aim: The present study was aimed to evaluate prevalence of obesity in housewives (HWs) and its relation with household activity in Ahmedabad city, India. Participants and Methods: The house-to-house survey or interview-based study was carried out among HWs (n=200) from different areas of Ahmedabad city to evaluate the prevalence of obesity. All study participants were categorized based on their socio-economical status and divided into three groups; Group I as upper middle class (UMC), Group II as middle class (MC) and Group III as lower middle class (LMC). Further, the participants were subcategorized to evaluate age-specific prevalence of overweight and obesity. Overweight and obesity were defined using body mass index criteria recommended by the World Health Organization. Participants were inquired for their daily household activity and physical activity. Results: Prevalence of overweight and obesity in HWs were found higher in MC group compared with UMC and LMC group. Moreover, age specific evaluation of prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be higher in age group of 30-45 years followed by other age groups (<30 years and 46-60 years). Involvements of HWs in daily household activities were observed to be higher in LMC than in MC and UMC. Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in HWs belonging to MC families, which may be due low household and physical activities. The prevalence of obesity and overweight in HWs is directly proportional to reduced daily household activity and physical in activities.

This study was designed to compare manifestations of FAS in the offspring of lower and upper middle class chronic alcoholic mothers, and to compare these offspring with those of nonalcoholic controls. There was highly significant difference in the incidence of FAS offspring between upper middle and lower class alcoholic mothers, 4.5% versus 70.9% respectively. Mean weight, length, and head circumference at birth in children of upper middle class alcoholic women was -ISD, those of lower class alcoholic women fell into -2SD. All other parameters, congenital malformation rate, failure to thrive, mental retardation were also significantly greater in children of lower class alcoholic women (p less than or equal to .01). Attention deficit disorder was found in 21% of upper middle class offspring of alcoholic women as compared to 71% in the children of the lower socioeconomic group (p less than or equal to .01).

Any analysis of the social structure of modern Japan is faced at the outset by an historical fact which is of great significance. Japan, in a period of approxi mately seventy years, changed from a society somewhat analogous to western feudalism, to a society characterized by a highly developed modern industry. The nearest approach in the Occident to such a cultural history has been that of Germany.2 This factor has had a great deal to do with the peculiar nature of the social developments in these two nations. The case of Japan is somewhat more striking since fewer of the usual interstitial stages were present here than in the German case and since the change has been somewhat more rapid. One of the most striking features of the Japanese social system seems to have been that the changes in control of the social system which accompanied the change from feudalism to industrialization were changes in the balance of power within the already existing class groups rather than, as in the West, a shift of control between classes. The transition of Japan from feudalism to modern industrialism has not been accompanied by the rise to power of any new class. The merchant and the entrepreneurial functions which brought a new group to the fore in the industrialization of Western Europe have been taken over in Japan by already existing groups. As J. P. Reed points out in his book, Kokutai, the social disorganization to be expected in so radical a social change as that from feudalism to modern industrialism has been notable for its absence in Japan and that, compared to the growth in national unity, discourag ing effects have been few. Roughly speaking, six social classes may be distinguished in modern Japan. In order of their level in the social stratification of Japan, these groups are as follows: I. The Imperial Family, II. Nobility, III. Upper Middle Class, IV. Lower Middle Class, V. Industrial Proletariat, and VI. Peasants. In addition, there is a rapidly diminishing outcast group (there are only some 300,000 remaining), the

In Colloquial Cairene Arabic, there is a phenomenon of lengthening the realization of vowels among speakers in Greater Cairo. It is a vernacular phenomenon that is mostly used by the working classes. This paper adopts the Labovian approach to investigate the correlation between two social classes, namely the upper middle class (UMC) and lower working class (LWC) and the production of the short, long and extra-long variants of the three long vowels /ɑɑ/, /ee/ and /aa/ in Colloquial Cairene Arabic. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 48 informants. After transcribing the interviews, five jurists were asked to judge the vowel length realized by completing a forced choice judgment task (Shutze & Sprouse, 2014). A spectrographic analysis of the length of vowels through Praat software speech analysis was performed for selected sample tokens to confirm the findings objectively. Results of the Z-test confirm that LWC informants significantly use extra-long variants of the three long vowels more than the UMC to show solidarity with members of the speech community. UMC informants use the standard forms and rarely lengthen their vowels. One-way ANOVA analysis shows that occupation and the place of residence play asignificant role in the use of the extra-long variants by the LWC speakers. In contrast, occupation, education and place of residence factors show homogeneity in affecting the use of the standard forms by the UMC.

The analysis, using an online survey, captures the adjustments in economic behaviour and changes in the choice of financial instruments by the urban middle class in Bangladesh due to Covid-19 pandemic. It shows that 43 per cent of the surveyed households suffered income losses—57 per cent belonging to lower middle class (LMC) and 19 per cent to upper middle class (UMC) households. Nearly one-third of the LMC households reduced their food costs compared with 6 per cent of the UMC households. The pandemic has also initiated large scale changes in their financial behaviour more towards digital and online markets with nearly twothirds reporting high reliance on online purchases. The observed changes indicate a long term transformation in the financial behaviour of the middle class households. Complementary evidence highlights the need for reducing their vulnerability since rising expectations of the expanding middle class are the critical drivers of social change in Bangladesh. The key to such dynamic transformations is the creation of a more learning middle class—a dynamic middle class that would be ready to exploit the opportunities of the ‘new normal’ after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Each country has its own criteria for the upper middle class. On the other hand, it is clear that even the general principles that define the middle class in different countries differ markedly between them. The US and British criteria are often compared. The role of the family as an element of social stratification is important in the British upper middle class model. The article advocates the influence of family stratification on the formation of the upper (and not only) middle class in Lithuania. Not only does the upper middle class have self-employment, its income is above average and it has higher education, it also influences, identifies trends and fundamentally shapes public opinion (an aspect of its ‘social role’). The broad upper middle class is not so much a guarantor of the welfare state but of social stability in the country.

Social stratification is the classification of people into classes that can be arranged in stages. Social stratification can also be referred to as layers between communities that classify individuals and groups who have differences. Vertical hierarchical classification of society resulted in the emergence of social classes so that the terms upper social class, middle class, and lower class emerged. This research will examine (1) how social stratification is described in the snowpiercer movie and also (2) what is the impact of social class classification in the snowpiercer movie. The research method used in this study is the qualitative method. By using the snowpiercer movie as the main data used in research studies. Based on the results of the study it was concluded that 1) the picture of social stratification that occurs in the snowpiercer movie leads to the division of social classes based on the economic status of eternal train passengers. Where people who have money will enter as first-class passengers with an upper social class and live in luxury while those who do not have money will become occupants of the rear carriage with a low social class and live in hardship. 2) The impact of this social class division is the occurrence of conflict turmoil that occurs from the lower social classes against the upper social classes or often known as class struggle. The underclass as the oppressed who try to get a good life by carrying out a revolutionary movement as a form of protest against existing differences.Keyword: social stratification, social class

Background &amp; Objective: Although menstruation is a natural physiological process and usually goes away without any complex problems provided proper care is taken during the period. However, menstruation is linked with religious and cultural meanings that can affect the perceptions of young girls and the ways in which the adult communities around them respond to their felt-needs. So, menstruation-associated complaints are not uncommon. The present study was, therefore, intended to determine the perception and practice of adolescent girls about menstruation in Barisal District.&#x0D; Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted as part of Field-site Survey of the Department of Social Science &amp; Public Health (SSPH). Having obtained consent from the parents/guardians, a total of 205 adolescent girls from the Barisal district (both from Barisal Metropolitan City and rural area of the District) who had experienced menarche at least 6 months prior to the day of interview were included in the study. Data were collected over a period of three months from July 2020 to September 2020. Before interview, the issue of menstruation was discussed with the respondents. The interview was done by the female Health Assistants (field staff of Upalzila Health Complex in the Government setting) so that the interviewees answer freely to such private matters as menstruation thereby reducing the chance of bias during interview.&#x0D; Result: Nearly 70% of the respondents were 14-16 years old with mean age of the girls being 15.2 ± 1.6 years. Majority of the respondents was unmarried (95.1%), urban resident (86.8%) and students of Public-School (66.8%). In terms of socioeconomic status, almost half (49.3%) was middle class, 29.8% lower middle class and 10.7% upper middle class. Most (87.8%) of the respondents had their menarche at 11-14 years with mean age at menarche being 12.9 ± 1.3 years. Over two-thirds (68.8%) of the respondents reported their length of menstrual cycle to vary from 26 – 30 days and period to vary from 3-5 days. A substantial proportion (83.4%) of respondents had regular menstruation. The predominant complaint during menstruation was fatigue or tiredness (73.2%) followed by pelvic pain (62%), malaise (60%) and low back pain (38.5%). Over half (50.4%) consulted with physicians, 11.8% with drug-sellers, 3.9% with herbal healer and 1.6% with homeopath for pain relief. Approximately 57% took analgesics to get relief from the pain. Other symptoms or complaints relating to menstruation were altered appetite (55.6%), abdominal bloating (39%), heavy bleeding (45.4%) and frequency of micturition (31.7%). About 46% of the respondents’ routine activities were adversely affected, social relationships disrupted (32.7%), family relationship hampered (25.4%), sports/exercise activities stopped or reduced (58%). Nearly half (47.8%) of them had to absent from the school during the period with average school absenteeism of 3-4 days each month being reported by more than half of the cases. Majority (94.6%) of the respondents perceived that ‘period of adolescent girls’ should occur every month and that their period should not make them anxious (81.5%). About 83% told that a period of 3-5 days duration be considered normal. Almost 94% took some sanitary measures while they were on period. Majority (87.3%) talked the issue to a family member and about 64% to friends. Over one-third (37.6%) sought suggestion about menstrual affairs from their mothers, 27.8% from their sisters, 26.8% from friends and relations and only 7.8% from doctors.&#x0D; Conclusion: Majority of the adolescent girls start menstruation at 11-14 years with mean age at menarche being 13 years. Adolescent girls usually adopt hygienic measures during the period by using sanitary napkin or clean home-made pad. The predominant symptoms experienced during the period are pelvic pain, malaise and low back pain. Other symptoms are loss of appetite, flatulence, heavy bleeding and frequency of micturition with personal, familial and social life being adversely affected and they remain absent from the school during the period in each cycle. Half of the girls consult with physicians for pain relief and take analgesics.&#x0D; Ibrahim Card Med J 2021; 11 (1): 79-85

To assess the attitude to, the knowledge and practice of contraception and medical abortion in women attending the family planning clinic at the mvj medical college , hosakote , Bangalore, India. Between 1(st) of August, 2011 and 31st of July, 2012 200 women attending family planning clinic of the mvj medical college, hosakote, Bangalore India of which 105 requested for medical termination of pregnancy (mtp), 95 for family planning advice, were interrogated on a structured questionnaire. The age of women ranged in between 20-45 years, 71 (35.5%) were illiterate, 30 (15%) had primary school education and 99 (49.5%) had diplomas from high school and above. Patients were grouped into low and high socio-economic status according to modified kuppuswamy socio-economic status scale: (i). upper class, (ii). Upper middle class, (iii). Middle class, (iv). Lower middle class, (v). lower class.consent of both husband and wife was taken. They were counseled about the various contraceptives available and allowed to choose whichever suited them best. Among the 200 women 85 (42%) did not use contraception; 51 (25.5 %) were on the barrier method; 49 (18.31%) used intrauterine devices (iud); 12 (6%) used oral pills and and 3 (1.5%) used other methods. the request for mtp was on grounds of unplanned pregnancy in 55.25% cases or failure of contraception in 44.7%. there was no eugenic indication of the women, 3 (1.5%) had heard about emergency contraceptives, however none had used them; 20 (10%) had heard of medical abortion and 12 (6%) had previously undergone mtp with satisfaction. the various methods of contraception accepted by the women post abortion were ocps by 11 (10.47%), iuds by 54 (51.5%) and female sterilization by 26 (24.71%). in the other group, 23 (24.2%) had iuds removed and reinserted; 37.8% had iuds inserted; 26 (27.36%) women underwent sterilization operation; and 6 (6.31%) had iuds removed opting for pregnancy. statistical analysis was done using spss software (Chicago) with χ(2) test taking p value of 0.05 as significant. There is lack of awareness of emergency contraception and medical abortion in the women community under study.

In Poland, the share of the middle class in the population is growing, unlike in the United States and Western European countries, where it is shrinking. The aim of the study described in this article is to identify the middle-income class in Poland and to assess its diversity in terms of selected economic and socio-demographic aspects. The analysis was carried out taking into account class stratification as seen from an economic perspective – more specifically, the division of the society into classes according to equivalised disposable income per person in a household. The financial situation within the middle class was assessed in the breakdown into three classes: lower, core, and upper middle class. Selected aspects of household functioning served as the evaluation criteria. These were the financial aspects (the level and structure of income by source, the debt, consumption and wealth) and socio-demographic ones (the structure by age, sex and household type). The study was conducted using microdata from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for the years 2013 and 2021. The results indicate an improvement in the financial situation of the Polish middle class and changes in its socio-demographic structure. More specifically, what was observed was the increase in the share of younger generations, including households with children, with a simultaneous decline in the position of retirees on the income ladder.

Background: Many studies have attempted to examine and evaluate the changes in population characteristics that may have contributed to the observed increase in CS rate. The aim of this study was to determine the caesarean section rate and demographic characteristics of women undergoing caesarean section in our rural tertiary health centre of central India.Methods: This prospective study was conducted in department of obstetrics and gynecology. The study instrument comprised a pre-structured data collection proforma which had various sections; social demographic characteristics, obstetric history and gestation details.Results: The overall caesarean section rate (CSR) was 36.88%. Maximum women (39.62%) who underwent Caesarean section were of age group 25-29 years. 58.05% from rural while 41.95% from urban area. CS was more in women of lower middle (22.80%) and upper lower (20.80%) class. Majority of women who had caesarean section were educated till higher school (31.87%) or were graduate (22.61%), 5.85% were illiterate. Majority of women (56.40%) were housewives. CSR was 70.83% in referred and 28.31% in booked. 52.86% women were nulliparous. Caesarean section was maximum (83%) in term, 16.92% preterm women and 0.08% post term women. 38.69% were referred from other health facilities. Maximum referrals 43.21% were from the district hospital.Conclusions: It was noted that the preference for caesarean section is more in women of 25-29 years, lower middle and upper middle class, rural women, educated upto high school and housewives at our centre. This hospital also serves as referral centre from surrounding health facilities increasing the caesarean section rate of the institute.

Social class and coronary artery disease in India