Social inequalities in health among adolescents in a large southern European city

Abstract

Background Numerous health problems are initiated in childhood and adolescence. For example, obesity, which has increased significantly in recent years, often begins in early life. The objective of this study is to describe social inequalities in obesity and other health problems among adolescents, by sex. Methods Data were from a cross-sectional study conducted in a representative sample of 903 adolescents aged 12e16 years old, from secondary schools in Barcelona, Spain. Associations between socioeconomic indicators and health outcomes (perceived health status, and overweight and obesity) were examined through generalised estimating equation models. All analyses were stratified by sex. Results Boys were more likely to report very good perceived health status than girls (64.1% and 46.3%, respectively). Some of the less privileged socioeconomic position indicators were associated with the presence of overweight and obesity (prevalence ratio 2.41 for low family affluence scale in girls), and with a lower probability of reporting very good perceived health status among boys (prevalence ratio 0.75 for primary level of paternal education). Conclusions This study suggests that there are social inequalities in perceived health status, overweight and obesity, measured by different socioeconomic indicators among the adolescent population of Barcelona, and that these inequalities were distributed differently among boys and girls. Gender differences in the impact of socioeconomic variables in health need to be considered in epidemiological and intervention studies.

Parental educational level and psychological positive health and health complaints in Spanish children and adolescents

“…We did not observe the associations of parental educational level (mother, father or both) with psychological positive health and health complaints in adolescents, which concurs with previous research studying the association of parental educational level and positive health (Piko & Keresztes 2007;Schlechter & Milevsky 2010). In contrast, other studies find the association of educational level of mother, father or both with psychological positive health (Koivusilta et al 2006;Von Rueden et al 2006;Duarte-Salles et al 2009; de Matos MG et al 2011) and health complaints (Geckova et al 2004).…”

“…Indeed, some studies suggest that parental educational level was positively associated with some indicators of psychological positive health such as self perceived health (Bauman et al 2006;Koivusilta et al 2006;Von Rueden et al 2006;Larson et al 2008;Duarte-Salles et al 2009;de Matos MG et al 2011), life satisfaction (Von Rueden et al 2006, academic performance (Davis-Kean 2005;Miranda et al 2009;Schlechter & Milevsky 2010) and inversely associated with having health complaints (Halldorson et al 2000;Geckova et al 2004). Nevertheless, other studies did not observe the association between parental educational level and academic performance (Stevenson & Baker 1987;Bakker et al 2007;Guo 2011), selfperceived health (Piko & Keresztes 2007), life satisfaction (Schlechter & Milevsky 2010) and quality of family relation-ships and quality of peer relationships (Von Rueden et al 2006).…”

Perfil de morbidade e hospitalização entre adolescentes da região de Ribeirão Preto/SP

“…Por sua vez, o perfil de morbidade hospitalar e de mortalidade dos adolescentes evidencia como principais agravos as denominadas "causas evitáveis", principalmente relacionadas ao trânsito, violência, abuso de substâncias e à gravidez. 3 No Brasil, enquanto que no final da déca-da de 1970, traumas e violência causaram mais de 45% das mortes de adolescentes (atingindo 95,5/100.000 na faixa etária dos 15 aos 19 anos), no ano 2000 essas causas foram associadas a mais de 60% dos óbitos, com destaque para os acidentes de trânsito. 8,9 Os resultados encontrados por este estudo apontam que, para a faixa etária de 10 a 14 anos, as freqüências de internações hospitalares sempre foram maiores para o sexo masculino que para o feminino.…”

“…Esse conjunto de modificações que ocorrem durante a segunda década da vida predispõe o adolescente à maior vulnerabilidade devido aos riscos para sua saúde e qualidade de vida, principalmente relacionados a comportamentos associados ao tabagismo, consumo de álcool e drogas, relações sexuais desprotegidas, dietas inadequadas e sedentarismo que compõem o cenário das causas diretamente relacionadas à morbidade e mortalidade entre os adolescentes. 1,2,3 Atualmente, cerca de 20% da população brasileira situa-se na faixa etária dos dez aos dezenove anos, o que compreende mais de 38 milhões de adolescentes (47,8% com idades entre 10 e 14 anos e 52,2% na faixa dos 15 aos 19 anos), 4 o que vale dizer que, em termos populacionais, corresponderia ao 34º pais do mundo, caso contasse apenas com seus adolescentes, o que destaca a importância de se desenvolverem estudos que ampliem o conhecimento sobre esse segmento da população. Por outro lado, torna-se também importante o conhecimento sobre o impacto econômi-co que os problemas de saúde mais prevalentes na população acarretam à sociedade, em função da aplicação dos recursos poderem ser direcionados adequadamente à assistência e aos programas preventivos.…”

Child health and the possibilities for childcare in a context of poverty and food insecurity: The narratives of parents attending a self‐managed foodbank in Spain

“…Also, all parents feared some degree of nutritional deficiency. The known negative effects of poverty and food insecurity on the health of children is also pertinent to this context, even if under-researched in Spain(Antentas & Vivas, 2014;Barriuso- Lapresa, Arizaleta, & Rajmil, 2012;Díaz-Olalla et al, 2018;Duarte- Salles et al, 2011;Font-Ribera et al, 2014;Moreno et al, 2008;European KIDSCREEN group, 2014;Rajmil et al, 2015).…”