Socioeconomic Inequalities in Low Birth Weight in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia

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Abstract

To compare associations between socioeconomic status and low birth weight across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, countries that share cultural features but differ in terms of public support and health care systems.

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Socioeconomic Status and Child Health: Why Is the Relationship Stronger for Older Children?

Janet Currie, Mark Stabile (2003)

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The child health/family income gradient: Evidence from England.

Stephen W. T. Price, Lisa M. Shields, Richard Currie (2007)

Recent studies using Canadian and US data have documented a positive relationship between family income and child health, with the slope of the gradient being larger for older than younger children [Case, A., Lubotsky, D., Paxson, C., 2002. Economic status and health in childhood: the origins of the gradient. American Economic Review 92, 1308-1334; Currie, J., Stabile, M., 2003. Socioeconomic status and child health: why is the relationship stronger for older children? American Economic Review 93, 1813-1823]. In this paper we explore whether or not these findings hold for England, analysing a sample of over 13,000 children (and their parents) drawn from the Health Survey for England. While we find consistent and robust evidence of a significant family income gradient in child health, using the subjective general health status measure, the slope of the gradient is very small. Moreover, we find no evidence that the slope of the gradient increases with child age. Furthermore, we find no evidence of such a gradient with more objective measures, based on nurse examinations and blood test results. Together these results suggest that family income is not a major determinant of child health in England. Finally, we provide some evidence that nutrition and family lifestyle choices have an important role in determining child health and that child health is highly correlated within the family.

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Parental recall of birth weight: how accurate is it?

Matthew Parker, Paul J. O’Sullivan, John M. Pearce (2000)

To assess the accuracy of parental recall of birth weight in a British population and to investigate whether social class and age of the child significantly influence the accuracy of recalled birth weight. A questionnaire was given to parents whose children were participating in a blood pressure study and the hospital records were retrieved to check the birth weight data. At the time of the study, the children (n = 649) ranged in age from 6 to 15 years. Seventy five per cent of the recalled birth weights were within 50 g of that recorded in the hospital records. No significant associations were found between the difference in birth weights (recalled birth weight minus hospital record) and social class of the parents or age of the child at time of data collection. This large study shows that parental recall of birth weight is good across the social classes and up to 16 years after delivery. There was no evidence of systematic bias, which would prejudice results of studies on the relation of birth weight to adult hypertension.