Some interesting facts from the Pan American Health Organization. * While the total population of the Americas is projected to increase more than threefold between 1950 and 2025, the population under 5 years will not even double. * Despite major efforts to promote breast-feeding in recent years, the number of women who breast-feed their children exclusively until the fourth month of life is much lower than expected. Promotional activities have succeeded in persuading a high percentage of mothers to initiate breast-feeding, but they have not been as effective in encouraging them to continue breast-feeding their children. * Information indicates that low birthweight remains a serious problem in the Americas: about one out of every 7-10 babies is born with a heightened risk of dying. If they survive they are at a disadvantage compared to children born with normal birthweight. * The drop in mortality from communicable diseases was responsible for 32.5% of the total reduction in mortality in the group aged 1-4 years in Canada and 48.3% in the United States. These are a few of the findings published in the latest edition of Health Statistics from the Americas. Produced periodically by the Pan American Health Organization, this publication aggregates health information from multiple sources including the United Nations Population Division (UN), Economic Commision for Latin America and the Caribbean(ECLAC), and the Pan American Health Organization. This edition is devoted to the topic "health during early childhood." It includes information about mortality in children under 5 years of age, breast feeding, nutritional status, common childhood illnesses, diseases preventable by immunization, cancer, AIDS, and accidents. Other parts of the book inform about mortality data for several age groups immediately following early childhood. These data have not been published previously in this age detail, and they should be invaluable in the study of adolescent health. Also, as have previous editions, this volume presents summarized mortality data by age group and sex for all years received after the previous edition (1995). For information about how to acquire this book, contact Meagan Cooke Pan American Health Organization fax: 202 338-0869 (Please don't respond to the listserv)