theory and the literature we can glean some expectations for the likely influence of the other exogenous variables.

_Education and individual characteristics._ We expect the BMI of the elderly with more education to be higher because of their better access to information, possibly better health behaviors, and better ability to translate health inputs into better outcomes. Controlling for wealth, additional education was associated with higher BMI of women over 20 in Ghana (Alderman 1990), while in Cote d'Ivoire it was not among men and women 20-60 (Thomas, Lavy and Strauss 1996). BMI declined with age in Indonesia over the age range 20-69 (Frankenberg, Thomas and Beegle 1999), while in Sarawak, Malaysia, it peaked at age 50 for men and age 40 for woman and then declined linearly with age (Strickland and Ulijaszek 1993, 1994). Adult women 20-60 in C6te d'Ivoire had higher BMI than men, controlling for other factors (Thomas, Lavy and Strauss 1996).

_Household assets._ We expect that household wealth and income will be associated with better health, as those with more resources can afford more and better-quality health inputs. The literature supports this. In C6te d'Ivoire and Ghana, higher per capita household expenditures were associated with higher BMI in adults 20-60 and adult women 20 and older, respectively (Thomas, Lavy and Strauss 1996; Alderman 1990). In Indonesia, an increase in per capita income between 1997 and 1998 was associated with an increase in BMI for women, but not for men (Frankenberg, Thomas and Beegle 1999). In Bangladesh, higher household assets (number of rooms in the dwelling and ownership of a cow) was associated with a reduced mortality risk among elderly women (Rahman, Foster and Menken 1992). A second study in Bangladesh found that ownership of at least one household asset (cow, boat, watch, or quilt) at the beginning of the survey was associated with lower mortality both of elderly men and women, as compared with those having none of these assets (Rahman 1999).

_Household composition._ We expect that the elderly who head their households will have better health outcomes because of their greater access to household resources and their likely role as the key decision-maker in resource allocation within the household. Using longitudinal data from Matlab, Bangladesh, Rahman (1999) found that the head of household or spouse of the head had lower mortality, even after controlling for disability status, the presence of spouses and sons and joint household resources. However, the effect of being the household head declined with age and became insignificant after age 75. Elderly Bangladeshi widows in rural households they do not head are at increased risk of mortality, compared with married women and widows who are heads of household (Rahman, Foster and Menken 1992).

We also expect that the elderly in households with a larger number of prime-aged adults will benefit from higher income and a lower demand on their time for labor input on the farm or in home production. Holding other things constant, we expect that elderly in households with relatively more young children will have greater demand on their time and energy in caring for children, and thus have lower health status. The presence of children in the household may also divert household resources from the consumption of the elderly (including their health inputs) to 6