Life Course Exposures and Socioeconomic Disparities in Child Health: Opportunities for Intervention

Abstract

Reichman and Teitler (Chap. 9) review the literature on socioeconomic disparities in child health. The life course-based conceptual framework they develop implies that there are multiple avenues for intervention, beginning with the mother’s health prior to conception, which could ultimately be effective in decreasing child health disparities. In this chapter, results are presented from a randomized controlled trial of one such intervention, Strong Healthy Women, designed to promote health and reduce risks for adverse birth outcomes among women living in low-income communities. More generally, advances in health- and healthcare-related knowledge and technology can lead to significant improvements in child health and well-being. If disparities in child health are to be reduced, the barriers experienced by families of lower socioeconomic status in accessing these improvements must be identified and addressed.KeywordsPrenatal CareSudden Infant Death SyndromeBirth OutcomeSocioeconomic DisparityPregnancy Weight GainThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.