Infant and child mortality in the Netherlands 1935–47 and changes related to the Dutch famine of 1944–45: A population-based analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1 Weekly rations in kcal/day in the western Netherlands for different age groups and professions, October 1944 to July 1945

Source: National Archives of the Netherlands, Collection 2.11.23.02, inv.no. 192. See also: De Zwarte (2020).

Figure 2 Annual mortality per 10,000 population at risk for selected age groups 0–14 and stillbirths, Netherlands, 1935–47

Source: CBS (1957).

Figure 3 Monthly mortality per 10,000 population at risk for selected age groups 0–14 and stillbirths, three cities vs rest of the Netherlands, 1935–47

Source: Data compiled from CBS (1935–48), Bureau van Statistiek der Gemeente Amsterdam (1945, 1949), Bureau voor Statistiek en Voorlichting der Gemeente ‘s–Gravenhage (1946), Gemeentelijk Bureau voor de Statistiek Rotterdam (1946), Ekamper et al. (2020), and De Zwarte (2020).

Table 1 Number of deaths, population at risk, and mortality per 10,000 population at risk at selected ages 0–14 years and stillbirths, in three cities vs rest of the Netherlands, for four time periods, Netherlands, 1935–47

		Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague					Rest of Netherlands					Cities vs Rest
	Age group Period	Deaths	Population at risk	Deaths/10,000 population at risk	RR	95 per cent CI	Deaths	Population at risk	Deaths/10,000 population at risk	RR	95 per cent CI	RR	95 per cent CI
Stillbirths
Pre-war: 1935 to Apr 1940		3,942	162,061	243.2	1.00	–	19,747	779,505	253.3	1.00	–	0.96	0.93–0.99
Pre-famine: May 1940 to Oct 1944		2,841	151,855	187.1	0.77	0.73–0.81	15,030	735,896	204.2	0.81	0.79–0.82	0.92	0.88–0.95
Famine: Nov 1944 to May 1945		393	23,253	169.0	0.69	0.63–0.75	2,285	112,182	203.7	0.80	0.77–0.84	0.83	0.75–0.92
Post-war: Jun 1945 to 1947		2,405	125,480	191.7	0.79	0.75–0.83	10,756	536,004	200.7	0.79	0.77–0.81	0.96	0.91–1.00
Infant deaths (<1 year)
Pre-war: 1935 to Apr 1940		4,691	155,956	300.8	1.00	–	30,704	718,617	427.3	1.00	–	0.70	0.68–0.73
Pre-famine: May 1940 to Oct 1944		4,612	144,997	318.1	1.06	1.02–1.10	30,403	669,273	454.3	1.06	1.05–1.08	0.70	0.68–0.72
Famine: Nov 1944 to May 1945		1,849	20,046	922.4	3.07	2.91–3.24	8,772	96,636	907.7	2.12	2.07–2.18	1.02	0.97–1.07
Post-war: Jun 1945 to 1947		4,285	126,092	339.8	1.13	1.08–1.18	22,913	477,475	479.9	1.12	1.10–1.14	0.71	0.69–0.73
Deaths 1–4 years
Pre-war: 1935 to Apr 1940		1,516	594,864	25.5	1.00	–	9,812	2,842,666	34.5	1.00	–	0.74	0.70–0.78
Pre-famine: May 1940 to Oct 1944		2,005	521,722	38.4	1.51	1.41–1.61	11,264	2,495,878	45.1	1.31	1.27–1.34	0.85	0.81–0.89
Famine: Nov 1944 to May 1945		746	68,595	108.8	4.27	3.91–4.66	2,965	341,465	86.8	2.52	2.41–2.62	1.25	1.16–1.36
Post-war: Jun 1945 to 1947		1,100	359,653	30.6	1.20	1.11–1.30	6,676	1,608,725	41.5	1.20	1.17–1.24	0.74	0.69–0.79
Deaths 5–14 years
Pre-war: 1935 to Apr 1940		1,413	1,634,813	8.6	1.00	–	7,163	7,079,792	10.1	1.00	–	0.85	0.81–0.90
Pre-famine: May 1940 to Oct 1944		1,976	1,262,016	15.7	1.81	1.69–1.94	9,424	5,965,465	15.8	1.56	1.51–1.61	0.99	0.94–1.04
Famine: Nov 1944 to May 1945		405	152,411	26.6	3.07	2.75–3.43	2,811	773,568	36.3	3.59	3.44–3.75	0.73	0.66–0.81
Post-war: Jun 1945 to 1947		817	698,284	11.7	1.35	1.24–1.48	4,054	3,438,963	11.8	1.17	1.12–1.21	0.99	0.92–1.07

Notes: RR = risk ratio; CI = confidence interval.

Source: Data compiled from CBS (1935–48), Bureau van Statistiek der Gemeente Amsterdam (1945, 1949), Bureau voor Statistiek en Voorlichting der Gemeente ‘s–Gravenhage (1946), Gemeentelijk Bureau voor de Statistiek Rotterdam (1946), Ekamper et al. (2020), and De Zwarte (2020).

Figure 4 Annual mortality per 10,000 population at risk for selected age groups 0–14, by selected causes of death, Netherlands, 1935

Source: As for Figure 2.

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