Health inequalities in the life course perspective

Wadsworth, Michael

doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(96)00187-6

Cited by 245 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(93 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

149

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Rather than ascribing observed associations with early life factors to a programming effect as conceptualized by Barker et al 3 it is our belief that risk factors may add incrementally to a 'chain of risk' and be modified by factors occurring at a later stage. 38 Thus our results of a strong protective inverse association of breast feeding fits well into the broader concept of a life course approach to overweight and obesity since it incorporates the potential for an early critical period in an infant's metabolism but also allows for a cumulative effect over time. Given the overall high rate of breast feeding in our study populations of about 83%, the preventive potential left is limited.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Inverse association of overweight and breast feeding in 9 to 10-y-old children in Germany

Liese

Hirsch

Mutius³

et al. 2001

Int J Obes

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether breast feeding is associated with prevalent overweight in pre-adolescent children. METHODS: Cross-sectional studies of 9 to 10-y-old children attending fourth grade in 1995=1996 in Dresden (n ¼ 1046) and Munich (n ¼ 1062), Germany, according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase II protocol. A comprehensive questionnaire including detailed breast feeding history was filled out by the child's parent. Height and weight were measured in a random subsample of children undergoing spirometry. Overweight was defined as body mass index 90th age-and sex-specific percentile of the German reference. RESULTS: While the prevalence of overweight differed substantially between Dresden (girls 9.1%, boys 12.5%) and Munich (17% both), we observed a markedly lower overweight prevalence among breast fed than non-breast fed children in both cities. Controlling for age, sex and city, breast-fed children were substantially less likely to be overweight at 9 -10 y (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.41 -0.74). Results were slightly attenuated after adjustment for nationality, socio-economic status, number of siblings, parental smoking (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.52 -0.87). A longer overall duration and duration of exclusive breast feeding was associated significantly with decreasing prevalence of overweight. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the importance and possible preventive potential of early nutrition in the development of overweight in children. Both feeding behaviors acquired by the nursing infant and metabolic effects may contribute to the observed inverse association of breast feeding and overweight in children.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Inverse association of overweight and breast feeding in 9 to 10-y-old children in Germany

Liese

Hirsch

Mutius³

et al. 2001

Int J Obes

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, the findings from this contemporary New Zealand cohort (born 1972-73) require replication in other parts of the world. Previous studies examined links between childhood socioeconomic status and adult mortality and morbidity in older cohorts (born 1906-58), 6,13,17,26 but our study suggests that these links continue to hold today. Moreover, childhood socioeconomic status has pervasive effects on adult health despite the fact that members of this contemporary cohort grew up with access to universal subsidised health care.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 53%

“…Although lack of resources and structural impediments (eg, lack of community facilities for physical activities) might play a part, the breadth of adult-health variables affected (ranging across physical health, dental health, and substance abuse) suggests several other candidate mechanisms. 26 First, class-biased health-care delivery during children's formative years might create long-lasting health inequalities. Second, social-class related differences in health-promoting parenting practices might contribute to early-emerging and long-lasting health differences among children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: a life-course study

et al. 2002

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The accumulation model implies that childhood disadvantage tends to be followed by health-relevant disadvantage across adulthood and into early old age [10]. In the study of social inequalities in health, evidence is presented on the range of social factors that are found to be associated with different aspects of health in early life, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood [11]. Uncertainty, however, exists about the continuation of this inequality into older age [12].…”

Section: What Is a Life Course Approach?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A life course approach: research orientations and future challenges

Heikkinen

2010

Eur Rev Aging Phys Act

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The need to study lifelong changes in health and functioning has resulted in increasing emphasis on a life course approach in different fields of inquiry. The aim of this approach is to explore how biological, psychological, and social risk factor trajectories, acting across the entire life course, influence age-related diseases, functional decline, and disability. The importance of the first years of life upon later development and adult characteristics was generally recognized already in the first half of the twentieth century, but it was not until the 1990s that different strands of medical and social research converge in the field of life course epidemiology, in which epidemiological processes are approached using different models such as biological programming, critical periods, pathways, and accumulation. The biological programming model holds that organ development in utero and early infancy determines the maximum functional capacity that an individual can attain and influences the development of certain chronic diseases later in life. The critical period model extends the idea to include child development and key social transitions over the entire life course. The pathway model focuses on the cumulative effect of life events along the developmental trajectories, with early advantage or disadvantage setting a person on a pathway to a later etiologically important exposure. The accumulation model describes the underlying social, behavioral, and biological processes that drive the impact of the life course on health. The growing focus on life course determinants of aging also has implications for studies of long-term changes in physical activity and their role in determining both gains and losses of health and functioning with aging. A life course approach presents great challenges for the continued development of testable theoretical models and effective study design and analysis.

show abstract

Health inequalities in the life course perspective

Cited by 245 publications

References 59 publications

Inverse association of overweight and breast feeding in 9 to 10-y-old children in Germany

Inverse association of overweight and breast feeding in 9 to 10-y-old children in Germany

Association between children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: a life-course study

A life course approach: research orientations and future challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About