Skip Navigation



The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on October 5, 2005
The European Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki200
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/4/354    most recent
cki200v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Emerson, E.
Right arrow Articles by Hatton, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Emerson, E.
Right arrow Articles by Hatton, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.
Received January 28, 2005
Accepted August 30, 2005

Article

Household income and health status in children and adolescents in Britain

Eric Emerson 1*, Hilary Graham 2, and Chris Hatton 3

1 Professor of Disability and Health Research, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
2 Professor of Social Policy, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
3 Professor of Psychology of Health and Social Care, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Eric Emerson, E-mail: eric.emerson{at}lancaster.ac.uk


  Abstract

Background: Mortality, health, and well-being across the lifespan are associated with socioeconomic position (typically operationalised as occupational status). There is some evidence that adolescence represents a period of ‘relative equalisation’ of health inequalities. Our aim was to examine the association between inequalities in household income and health in childhood and adolescence. Methods: Cross-sectional survey using multistage stratified random sample of households in Britain. Information was collected on 10438 children aged 5-15 years. Results: Low levels of equivalised household income was associated with poorer health for 13 out of the 22 indicators examined (odds ratio P < 0.05 for ≥1 income quintile). Multivariate analyses controlling for child characteristics, parental socioeconomic status and household composition indicated that low levels of equivalised household income increased the odds of poor health for 9 out of the 22 indicators examined. There was little evidence of any systematic differences in the extent of health inequalities across age groups (5-10 and 11-15 years). Conclusion: Household income is related to a range of health outcomes for children and adolescents, even when other indicators of socioeconomic status are taken into account. We found little evidence that adolescence represents a period of relative equalisation of health inequalities.

Keywords: adolescents; children; disability; health inequalities.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur J Public HealthHome page
K. A. Levin, C. Currie, and J. Muldoon
Mental well-being and subjective health of 11- to 15-year-old boys and girls in Scotland, 1994-2006
Eur J Public Health, December 1, 2009; 19(6): 605 - 610.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.