Abstract
BackgroundSocioeconomic inequalities in health are a global problem, not only among the adult population but also among children. However, studies concerning young children especially are rare. The aim of this study was to describe the health of Finnish children under 12 years of age, and the socioeconomic factors associated with health. The socioeconomic factors were parental education level, household net income, and working status.MethodsA population-based survey among Finnish children aged under 12 years (n = 6,000) was conducted in spring 2007. A questionnaire was sent to parents, and a response rate of 67% was achieved. Each child's health was explored by asking a parent to report the child's health status on a 5-point Likert scale, current symptoms from a symptoms list, and current disease(s) diagnosed by a physician. The final three outcome measures were poor health, the prevalences of psychosomatic symptoms, and long-term diseases. Data were analysed using Pearson's Chi-Square tests, and logistic regression analysis with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). P-values ≤0.05 were considered as statistically significant.ResultsIn total, 3% of parents reported that their child's health status was poor. The prevalences of psychosomatic symptoms and long-term diseases were both 11%. The probability for poor health status was lowest among children aged 3-6 and 7-11 years, and for psychosomatic symptoms among 3-6-year-old children, whereas the odds ratios for long-term diseases was highest among children aged 7-11 years. Parental socioeconomic factors were not associated with the children's health.ConclusionsMost of the children were reported by their parent to have good health status, and approximately one tenth had experienced some psychosomatic symptoms or long-term diseases. Our study suggests that parental socioeconomic factors are not associated with the health of children aged under 12 years in Finland.
Highlights
Socioeconomic inequalities in health are a global problem, among the adult population and among children
The aim of this study was to describe the health of Finnish children aged under 12 years, and socioeconomic factors associated with health
In contrast to most previous studies, we found that parental socioeconomic factors were not associated with the health of Finnish children aged under 12 years
Summary
Socioeconomic inequalities in health are a global problem, among the adult population and among children. European studies have shown that low socioeconomic status, low education and low income are associated with poor health among adult populations, e.g., poor self-assessed health, mortality, prevalence of long-term diseases, and the experience of psychosomatic symptoms [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Parents’ low education, unemployment, and low income have been associated with poor health status and an increased prevalence of chronic diseases and psychosomatic symptoms [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. The presence of multiple parental socioeconomic risk factors may have a cumulative effect on children’s poor health [14,18,20]
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