Affluent Children Research Articles

Social class, smartphone advertising exposure, self‐esteem, and materialism: The case of children in Lebanon

AbstractThe current compounded economic crisis in Lebanon has increased poverty rates and widened the gap between families of different socioeconomic classes. Little is known about the impact of advertising, particularly smartphone advertising, on the self‐esteem and materialism levels of children in developing countries like Lebanon. This study aimed to measure the differences among children coming from lower and upper socioeconomic classes in the following: smartphone advertising exposure, materialism and self‐esteem, vulnerability to the effects of smartphone advertising exposure on materialism, and vulnerability to the effects of materialism on self‐esteem. It was found that advertising affected negatively the self‐esteem of the children coming from lower social classes, including the “newly poor,” because in the current economic situation, children who are more exposed to advertising are more likely to believe in advertising, have lower self‐satisfaction, and believe themselves to be inferior for not owning the various products that are advertised, which lead them to become more materialistic than children from wealthier families. On the other hand, advertising had a reinforcing effect on materialism among more affluent children. In addition, and contrary to the expected, children from higher social classes, and not children from deprived households, were more susceptible to the impact of advertising on materialism. These findings enlighten us on the significant role that today's advertising plays in societies with wide socioeconomic disparities.

Age of entry into early childhood education and care, literacy and reduction of educational inequality in Nordic countries

ABSTRACT An early start to good-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is considered beneficial, especially for disadvantaged children's development and educational outcomes. This assumption was tested using the latest two waves (2015 and 2018) of data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in five countries using the Nordic model of early education and care: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The article finds evidence of the overall positive association between the age of entry in ECEC and literacy at age 15 in all Nordic countries. However, the relationship is non-linear, and the highest benefits seem to occur following entry into ECEC from ages two to three. The link between family background and ECEC enrollment largely explains this association. We did not find that ECEC would generally compensate for low socioeconomic status (SES) in children’s achievement. However, the Matthew effect was observed in Norway, where an early ECEC start is more strongly associated with literacy scores for affluent children than disadvantaged children. These findings have limitations due to their correlational nature. Still, this article indicates that even in high-quality universal ECEC systems, early preschool education is not a panacea for lowering achievement gaps due to parental background.

How School-Based Wellbeing Interventions, Socioeconomic Status, and Gender Impact Anxiety Development in Middle Childhood

The current study examined whether delivering wellbeing interventions in schools impacted anxiety development in middle childhood. Schools have an important role to play in addressing children’s anxiety through daily practice in classrooms and by implementing specialist wellbeing interventions that support children’s coping. A nationally representative sample of Irish primary school children (N = 2313; 48.9% male) were surveyed when they were in second class (M age 8.09 years, SD = 0.39) and fourth class (M age 9.96 years, SD = 0.40) of primary school. Teachers reported on wellbeing interventions in schools. Key findings from moderation analyses suggest that family affluence and being female predicted a greater increase in anxiety development and that wellbeing interventions interacted with family affluence to reduce anxiety development for more affluent children. These findings can be used to strengthen the design and implementation of wellbeing interventions for a more efficacious approach to minimising children’s anxiety development.

“It was like I was not a person, it was like I was the nature”: The impact of arts-in-nature experiences on the wellbeing of children living in areas of high deprivation

BackgroundNature can weaken the negative effects of deprivation on health, shifting away from pathogenic models of health and supporting the wellbeing of disadvantaged groups. Nevertheless, children living in deprived areas are nine times less likely to have access to nature compared to more affluent children. Schools can facilitate equity of access to nature, thereby playing a crucial role in addressing health inequities. What has received scant attention in existing literature is how access to, and engagement with, nature can be facilitated through arts experiences. Methods‘Eco-capabilities’ is a pilot study exploring the impact of the arts-in-nature practice - ‘Artscaping’ - on the wellbeing of 101 children (aged 7–10) living in areas of high deprivation. Qualitative and arts-based methods were used to understand children's, artists' and teachers' experiences of participating in the intervention. Quantitative methods were used to gain preliminary information on children's self-reported measures of wellbeing pre- and post-intervention. FindingsChildren's wellbeing was supported by the development of: self-confidence and self-esteem; agency; slowliness and calmness; and connectedness with nature. Although children's self-reported measures of wellbeing did not reach statistically significance, the most noticeable changes were that children felt happier with their life as a whole, spending time outdoors and doing things away from home, and more optimistic about what future holds for them. ConclusionsThis study developed the proof of concept for the arts-in-nature intervention. Future research should focus on scaling-up this intervention in primary, secondary and special schools in a wider range of geospatial contexts. Future research should also prioritise the collaboration between artists and teachers to ensure the sustainability of this practice beyond the scope of the research.

Construal level among poor children: Executive function implications.

Poverty impedes children's executive function (EF). Therefore, it is necessary to mitigate the negative effect of poverty by developing efficient interventions to improve poor children's cognitive function. In three studies, we examined whether high-level construals can improve EF among poor children in China. In Study 1, we observed a positive relationship between family socioeconomic status and children's EF, which was moderated by construal level (n=206; Mage =9.71; 45.6% girls). In Study 2a, we experimentally induced high- versus low-level construals and found that poor children with high-level construals exhibited better EF than those with low-level construals (n=65; Mage =11.32; 47.7% girls). However, the same intervention did not affect the performance of affluent children in Study 2b (n=63; Mage =10.54; 54% girls). Moreover, we found that the interventional effects of high-level construals improved the ability of children living in poverty to make healthy decisions and delayed gratification in Study 3 (n=74; Mage =11.10; 45.9% girls). These findings may have implications for using high-level construals as an effective intervention to improve poor children's EF and cognitive capacity.

Preschool Children’s Evaluations of Prototypic and Accidental Moral Transgressions Differ by Economic Strata

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Research with older children and adults reliably demonstrates that individuals raised in poverty tend to evaluate concerns related to moral concerns (i.e., related to harm, welfare, and justice) differently than do wealthier individuals. However, little work has examined these patterns in young children. Children (N=214, Mage = 53.30 months, SD = 18.3 months) completed tasks regarding accidental and prototypic moral transgressions, and a standard verbal assessment. Parents reported family size and household income, which were used to compute individuals’ income-to-needs ratio (INR) compared to federal standards. Using generalized linear mixed modeling (GLMM), a repeated-measure analysis, results indicate that children in low-income families (INR < 2.0) were more lenient in how they evaluate both accidental and prototypic issues, compared to more affluent children. Moreover, they were more likely to evaluate issues based on communal welfare (e.g., equitable resource distribution), whereas more affluent children were more likely to reference psychological harm. Practice or Policy: Practitioners and researchers of early childhood should be cognizant and sensitive to differences in children’s social understanding. We encourage scholars to use a strength-based, adaptive approach in future research on children’s cognition, particularly involving SES, class, and the like.

Playing Board Games to Learn Rational Numbers: AProof‐of‐Concept

AbstractEducational board games are a promising teaching method due to their low cost, playful, exploratory, and engaging nature. By drawing on analogical research, we created a game whose structure of spatial relationships mirrored the structure of rational numbers. We expected that children playing this game would improve their knowledge of fractions. We conducted a school intervention with an active control group and pretest‐posttest assessments to evaluate our board game. Playing this game promoted the learning of fractions, even after controlling for nonverbal cognitive abilities. This low‐cost educational game might help reduce the knowledge gap that separates less and more affluent children.

“No city for lovers:” anti-Romeo squads, resistance, and the micro-politics of moral policing in an Indian city

ABSTRACT This article explores the quotidian politics of women’s virtue vigilante groups in Mumbai. It illustrates the multiple ways in which lower class “respectable women,” ranging from members of ladies’ groups to lone-wolf leaders, actively participate in cleansing the cityscape of what they believe is “sexual vulgarity” by daily surveillance over public displays of love in poor and peripheral localities. This militant scrutiny of urban public conduct is intimately related to daily security anxieties about those they label as perverts, sex addicts, and pedophiles occupying urban areas, which are still safe spaces for less affluent women and children. These women’s groups and their resilient/adaptable moral authority in the management of public space offer imperceptible and enduring challenges to the hegemony of police governance over such urban spatial orders.

The effect of breakfast after the bell on student academic achievement

Many schools are beginning to serve breakfast after the bell (BAB) in order to expand breakfast participation. Improved nutrition may lead to better academic achievement, but BAB may also cut into instruction time. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) estimation with variation in treatment timing, we find modest negative effects of BAB on math and no effects on English, Language, and Arts (ELA) test scores. The negative effects, while small, were driven by more affluent children. The null findings cannot be explained by the lack of an effect on breakfast participation or school attendance increases. Average treatment effects by grade indicate positive effects on math scores for vulnerable children when BAB is adopted in earlier grades and negative but modest effects in later grades for more affluent children. Overall, we conclude that BAB can be incorporated into the school day without adversely impacting academic achievement in a meaningful way.

Fulfilment of Formal Education for Children with Criminal Sentences: Analysis of Law Number 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Justice System

Crimes committed by children are currently experiencing a very significant increase. In Indonesia, the settlement of criminal cases against children is included in vulnerable children who need more attention in fulfilling their rights. However, there are still many violations of children's rights during their status as perpetrators of crimes and afterwards. This study aims to analyze the fulfilment of the formal education of criminal children by Law Number 11 of 2012 concerning the Juvenile Justice System. This study uses a qualitative approach with a literature study. The results of the study explain that Indonesia as a country that has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child through Presidential Decree Number 36 of 1990 dated August 25, 1990, has further integrated children's rights into national law, namely into Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection. Protection of children was created as an effort to educate and build quality and affluent children in education. These forms of protection include providing comfort, security, health, and adequate education. The existence of The Child Special Guidance Institute plays a vital role in fulfilling the educational needs of formal and non-formal children.

A cross sectional study on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in affluent school children of central Kerala

Background: Childhood obesity is increasing in India in recent years. The recent economic development and nutritional transition has been attributed to the increase in childhood obesity. Obesity in childhood predisposes to many cardiovascular/endocrinal problems in later years of life. This problem is taking an epidemic lever in Kerala too. Objective was to assess the prevalence of obesity among affluent school children in Thrissur.Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 1104 private school children in Thrissur, Kerala, South India between November 2019 to October 2020. Prior permission to conduct the study was obtained from the respective authorities. Parent assent was obtained. A semi-structured questionnaire was used. Anthropometric measurements- height and weight were measured using the standard methods prescribed in the World Health Organization STEPwise approach to surveillance (WHO-STEPS) field manual.Bodymass index (BMI) was calculated and classified as per WHO guidelines for their respective ages.Results: 13.9% were overweight and 7.3% were obese. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity was 21.2%. Prevalence of obesity and overweight was 23.7% among boys and 18.2% among girls. The prevalence of overweight and obesity increases with age.Conclusions: Appropriate preventive measures like change in food habits and life style practices, increasing physical activities, health education for parents and children, needs to be taken.

Westernization of self-perception in modern affluent Indonesian school children

Background&#x0D; Subjective Social Status is used as an important predictor for psychological and physiological findings, most commonly measured with the MacArthur Scale (Ladder Test). Previous studies have shown that this test fits better in Western cultures. The idea of a social ladder itself and ranking oneself “higher” or “lower” is a concept that accords to the Western thinking.&#x0D; Objectives&#x0D; We hypothesize that in a culture where only the elites have adapted to a Western lifestyle, the test results reflect a higher level of accuracy for this stratum. We also expect that self-perception differs per sex.&#x0D; Sample and Methods&#x0D; We implemented the Ladder Test in a study of Indonesian schoolchildren aged between 5 and 13 years (boys N = 369, girls N= 364) from non-private and private schools in Kupang in 2020. &#x0D; Results&#x0D; Our analysis showed that the Ladder Test results were according to the Western expectations only for the private school, as the Ladder Scores significantly decreased with age (LM: p = 0.04). The Ladder Test results are best explained by “Education Father” for the non-private school pupils (p = 0.01) and all boys (p = 0.04), by “School Grades” for the private school cohort (p = 0.06) and by “Household Score” for girls (p =0.09).&#x0D; Conclusion&#x0D; This finding indicates that the concept of ranking oneself “high” or “low” on a social ladder is strongly implicated with Western ideas. A ladder implies social movement by “climbing” up or down. According to that, reflection of self-perception is influenced by culture.

PREVALENCE OF OBESITY IN AFFLUENT SCHOOL CHILDREN IN MULTAN

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity in affluent school children in Multan.&#x0D; Study design: Cross sectional study&#x0D; Place and Duration of study: Three private schools of Multan selected at random; willing to participate in the study. The study was carried out from 15 May 2015 to 15 November 2015.&#x0D; Results: In our study, 37.58% (n=62) children were between 5-7 years and 62.42% (n=103) were between 8-10 years of age, mean +SD was calculated as 7.79+1.47 years, 73.94% (n=122) were males and 26.06% (n=43) were females. Mean values of basic characteristics of the patients were calculated as 2.14+1.21 as birth order, 33.18+8.25(kg) for weight, 130.15+8.81(cm) and 1.30+0.08(m) for height and 19.40+3.26 (kg/m^2) for BMI. Prevalence of obesity in affluent school children in Multan was calculated as 43.03% (n=71).&#x0D; Conclusion: We concluded that the prevalence of obesity in affluent school children in Multan is very higher. Low physical activity and sedentary lifestyle are potential risk factors for obesity in children which may be modified and persistence of obesity may be avoided.

Protecting the American Dream: a Pediatric Imperative.

* Abbreviations: AAP — : American Academy of Pediatrics VVN — : Vital Village Network The American dream is a fundamental ethos of the nation passed from generation to generation. In 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.” Most Americans across all incomes still believe their children and grandchildren will achieve the American dream.1 Yet, in reality, it is out of most children’s reach. The American dream is intrinsically tied to the capacity for upward mobility, whereby children can grow up to surpass their parent’s income level. The groundbreaking work of Harvard Professor of Public Economics Dr Raj Chetty reveals that there is less upward mobility in the United States today than at any other time, likely because of lower overall economic growth and greater inequality in its distribution. Specifically, Chetty et al2 found that, since 1940, the fraction of children who earn more than their parents has fallen from >90% to ∼50%. However, the decline in the American dream is not equally distributed across the United States. Chetty et al3 has revealed great variation in upward mobility, with significant differences even among neighborhoods within the same city. Higher–upward-mobility areas are associated with less residential segregation and income inequality and greater … Address correspondence to Arvin Garg, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655. E-mail: Arvin.Garg{at}umassmemorial.org

TV adverts, materialism, and children’s self-esteem: The role of socio-economic status

Levels of debt and poor mental health are at an all-time high among UK families, while the gap between rich and poor has also widened. Exposure and susceptibility to advertising, belief that purchased products will lead to happiness (materialism), and poor mental well-being have been shown to be linked in previous research, but the role of children’s socio-economic status has seldom been taken into account. A greater understanding of the effects of this dynamic among those without the ready money to purchase highly advertised and desired products is important, particularly given the connections with children’s low self-esteem. This study aimed to (1) quantify differences in TV advertising exposure, materialism, and self-esteem between deprived and affluent children, (2) measure differences in susceptibility to the effect of TV advertising exposure on materialism between deprived and affluent children, and (3) measure differences in susceptibility to the effect of materialism on self-esteem between deprived and affluent children. It was found that children from deprived backgrounds were more materialistic than children from affluent homes, and that this was the result of both higher exposure to advertising and higher belief in the credibility of advertising. At the same time, we found that children from affluent backgrounds were more susceptible to advertising’s reinforcing effect on materialism, whereas children from deprived background were more susceptible to materialism’s detrimental effect on self-esteem. Two different dynamics appear to be at play in the two groups. This adds a new dimension to our understanding of the role of advertising in a society with high levels of inequality.

Socioeconomic Patterning of Children's Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity Intensities and Adiposity: A Pooled Analysis of Individual-Level Data for 26,915 Children and Adolescents from 36 European Cohorts

Background: Childhood obesity is increasing globally with widening socioeconomic inequalities. It is unclear if differences in the accumulation and intensity distribution of children’s physical activity is contributing to these rising disparities. We investigated if the intensity patterning of physical activity differs between socioeconomic groups across Europe and if this relationship differs by national level income inequality and age to help explain obesity disparities. Methods: We pooled and harmonised individual-participant accelerometer-assessed activity and socioeconomic position (SEP) data from 36 European child studies. Included participants were between 5 to 16 years of age with valid accelerometer data (≥480 minutes of daily wear time on 3 days), parental education and anthropometric measurements. Study-level multivariable linear regression models were run to assess differences in moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), vigorous physical activity (VPA) and adiposity by socioeconomic position (by parental education). Effects were pooled in random effect meta-analyses. Findings: 26,915 participants (mean age: 10·1y [SD:1.2]; 51·7% female) from 16 European countries met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses revealed proportionally more average daily minutes of VPA were performed by children from a higher socioeconomic position (High vs low SEP, b: 0·57, 95%CI: 0·28, 0·85 mins), despite lower overall levels of physical activity (MVPA; b: -1·51, 95%CI: -2·36, -0·67 mins). Higher intensity activity in children from a higher socioeconomic position was paralleled by lower levels of adiposity measured by BMI z-score (b: -0·20, 95%CI: -0·24, -0·16). Stepwise differences were apparent moving from low to medium to high socioeconomic position [e.g. BMI z-score: (Low vs Med SEP; b: -0·10, 95%CI: -0·14, -0·07) (Low vs High SEP; b: -0·20, 95%CI: -0·24, -0·16)]. Inequalities in VPA and BMI z-score widened with age and were not affected by national level income inequality. Interpretation: Lower levels of adiposity in children from a higher socioeconomic position are paralleled by relatively higher amounts of VPA despite overall lower levels of MVPA. Physical activity promotion efforts should focus on providing opportunities for less affluent children to be vigorously active. Funding Statement: BHF, CRUK, ESCR, MRC, Wellcome Trust, Research Council of Norway Declaration of Interests: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: The authors declared not applicable.

The Segregation of Opportunity: Social and Financial Resources in the Educational Contexts of Lower- and Higher-Income Children, 1990-2014.

This article provides a rich longitudinal portrait of the financial and social resources available in the school districts of high- and low-income students in the United States from 1990 to 2014. Combining multiple publicly available data sources for most school districts in the United States, we document levels and gaps in school district financial resources-total per-pupil expenditures-and social resources-local rates of adult educational attainment, family structure, and adult unemployment-available to the average public school student at a variety of income levels over time. In addition to using eligibility for the National School Lunch Program as a blunt measure of student income, we estimate resource inequalities between income deciles to analyze resource gaps between affluent and poor children. We then examine the relationship between income segregation and resource gaps between the school districts of high- and low-income children. In previous work, the social context of schooling has been a theoretical but unmeasured mechanism through which income segregation may operate to create unequal opportunities for children. Our results show large and, in some cases, growing social resource gaps in the districts of high- and low-income students nationally and provide evidence that these gaps are exacerbated by income segregation. Conversely, per-pupil funding became more compensatory between high- and low-income students' school districts over this period, especially in highly segregated states. However, there are early signs of reversal in this trend. The results provide evidence that school finance reforms have been somewhat effective in reducing the consequences of income segregation on funding inequities, while inequalities in the social context of schooling continue to grow.

Sociodemographic variations in the linkage between emotion regulation and peer victimization

ABSTRACTSociodemographic variables may have important implications for understanding the role of global and discrete-level emotion regulation ability in the prediction of elementary school children’s peer victimization. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of 109 elementary school children from economically and racially diverse backgrounds. There was a positive relation between sadness regulation and overt victimization for children in early elementary grades, but not for children in later grades. In addition, there was a positive relation between sadness regulation and relational victimization for boys and a negative association between the two variables for girls. Girls were rated higher than boys on global emotion regulation ability. In addition, economically disadvantaged children reported more relational victimization than their more affluent peers. Affluent children also received higher ratings on global emotion regulation as well as sadness regulation. Anger regulation was also positively associated with overt victimization.

Field Testing of IAP2015 Charts.

To field test the IAP2015 (Indian Academy of Pediatrics) charts in different socioeconomic classes; to compare standard deviation scores (Z-scores) of children's height, weight and body mass index (BMI) for age as computed based on IAP2007 or WHO charts against the IAP2015 references. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the district of Pune on apparently healthy 5-18 y old children from urban affluent, urban underprivileged and rural areas. Anthropometric measurements were performed and parameters were converted into Z-scores. Urban affluent children were tallest and heaviest whereas urban underprivileged children were shortest. Z-score comparison showed that all children were shortest on WHO references and taller as per IAP2007 references. BMI Z-score was higher on IAP2007 charts and lower on WHO references. Highest number of children were within the reference range on IAP2015 charts among urban affluent. More children were classified stunted on WHO references and least on IAP2007 references. WHO references overestimated wasting and as per IAP2007 charts, less number were wasted. Less number of children were classified as being obese/overweight by WHO and IAP2007 references. IAP2015 charts are better representative of healthy children of current generation and may be used to prevent inappropriate classification in present scenario.

National trends in tongue reduction surgery for macroglossia in children

ObjectivesTo examine the frequency of partial glossectomy performed for the indication of macroglossia in children within the United States, assessing for differences in rates of intervention across various demographics.To identify potential morbidities associated with partial glossectomy in this population and determine how such factors may influence length of stay and cost of admission following tongue reduction surgery. Study DesignRetrospective cross-sectional study. SettingThe Kids' Inpatient Database 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2012. SubjectsPatients under age 5 diagnosed with macroglossia who underwent partial glossectomy. MethodsDemographics were analyzed and cross tabulations, linear regression modeling, and multivariate analysis were performed. ResultsDuring the four-years studied, partial glossectomy was performed in 196 children under age 5 with macroglossia. A disproportionately higher rate of intervention was seen in white children (p = 0.001), patients undergoing surgery in the mid-west (p < 0.001) and patients in the highest socioeconomic quartile (p = 0.015). Most patients underwent glossectomy in their second year of life. The average length of stay in patients who underwent partial glossectomy for macroglossia was 9.59 days (Range 1–211 days, median 3.45 days) and the average cost was $56,602 (median $16,330). ConclusionPartial glossectomy for macroglossia is typically performed prior to age 2 in the United States. A higher rate of intervention is seen in white children, those who have surgery in the mid-west and affluent children even when controlling for confounding variables. Level of evidenceIII.