Household item ownership and self-rated health: material and psychosocial explanations

Background: There has been an ongoing debate whether the effects of socioeconomic factors on health are due to absolute poverty and material factors or to relative deprivation and psychosocial factors. In the present analyses, we examined the importance for health of material factors, which may have a direct effect on health, and of those that may affect health indirectly, through psychosocial mechanisms.Methods: Random national samples of men and women in Hungary (n=973) and Poland (n=1141) were interviewed (response rates 58% and 59%, respectively). The subjects reported their self-rated health, socioeconomic circumstances, including ownership of different household items, and perceived control over life. Household items were categorised as "basic needs", "socially oriented", and "luxury". We examined the association between the ownership of different groups of items and self-rated health. Since the lists of household items were different in Hungary and Poland, we conducted parallel identical analyses of the Hungarian and Polish data.Results: The overall prevalence of poor or very poor health was 13% in Poland and 25% in Hungary. Education, material deprivation and the number of household items were all associated with poor health in bivariate analyses. All three groups of household items were positively related to self-rated health in age-adjusted analyses. The relation of basic needs items to poor health disappeared after controlling for other socioeconomic variables (mainly material deprivation). The relation of socially oriented and luxury items to poor health, however, persisted in multivariate models. The results were similar in both datasets.Conclusions: These data suggest that health is influenced by both material and psychosocial aspects of socioeconomic factors

Does adiposity mediate the relationship between socioeconomic position and non-allergic asthma in childhood?

BACKGROUND: Despite its high prevalence, early onset and chronic nature, the causes of asthma are not clearly established. The present study examined a plausible but untested relationship in the development of non-allergic asthma; an asthma phenotype closely linked to deprivation and other preventable risk factors. Our aim was to determine the mediating role of adiposity in the relationship between socioeconomic position in infancy and non-allergic asthma emergence in mid-childhood. METHODS: To estimate the causal indirect effect of adiposity we applied the parametric g-computational procedure to 6203 singleton children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Adiposity was measured at age 7 by body mass index, waist circumference and waist circumference-to-height ratio. Children who developed non-allergic asthma between the age of 7 and 14 were compared with children without allergies or allergic asthma at these ages. RESULTS: We found no evidence to suggest that adiposity is a mediator in the relationship between socioeconomic position and the development of non-allergic asthma in mid-childhood. After adjustment for risk factors, the direct effect of socioeconomic position remained; children in the lowest tertile of socioeconomic position had a 43% (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.38 to 1.49) greater odds of developing non-allergic asthma compared with the highest tertile. CONCLUSIONS: Adiposity at age 7 does not mediate the relationship between socioeconomic position and non-allergic asthma. The results suggest that improving socioeconomic conditions and promoting healthy weight are both important in reducing the development of non-allergic asthma in early to mid-childhood

Children's behavioural problems and its associations with socioeconomic position and early parenting environment: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Aims To investigate behavioural problems throughout childhood and adolescent, and its relationship with socioeconomic position (SEP) and early parenting environment. Methods Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study conducted in the UK, behavioural problems of 14 452 children were analysed using a growth curve model. The children were followed from birth to adolescence, and their behavioural problems were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The SDQ was sub-scaled into externalising and internalising problems. After assessing the general trajectory of children's behavioural problems, variables representing SEP and parenting environments were introduced to the model to analyse the association with children's outcomes. Results Overall, children's trajectories in externalising problems showed a decreasing trend while internalising problems increased as they aged. Household income and maternal education in early childhood were independently associated with children's behavioural problems, while the association for maternal occupation was significantly weaker. Positive early parenting environments attenuated the association between SEP and children's behavioural problems. Also, with regards to children's behavioural problems, positive parenting explained more variance between children compared to SEP. Favourable parent–child relationship buffered the income gradient in children's behavioural problems during early childhood, and although this buffering effect did not last until adolescence, those who had good parent–child relationships developed better outcomes regardless of their SEP. Conclusions The results of the study emphasise the importance of a positive early parenting environment for improving and reducing the socioeconomic gap in children's behavioural problems and encourages policies to promote better parenting circumstances

Role of combined prenatal and postnatal paracetamol exposure on asthma development: the Czech ELSPAC study

Background: Prenatal and postnatal paracetamol exposure has been previously associated with asthma development in childhood in Western populations. We explore the association between prenatal and postnatal paracetamol exposure and asthma development in a Central European sample of Czech children, suggesting possible additive effect of the both exposures. Furthermore, since aspirin had been used more widely during study data collection in Central Europe, we also compared asthma development for those exposed to paracetamol and aspirin. Methods: We used data from 3329 children born in the 1990s as members of the prospective Czech European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Data about prenatal and postnatal paracetamol and aspirin exposure, and potential covariates were obtained from questionnaires completed by mothers. Data about incident asthma were obtained from paediatrician health records. Results: 60.9% of children received paracetamol only postnatally, 1.5% only prenatally and 4.9% of children were exposed both during pregnancy and infancy. Prevalence of asthma in following population was 5% at 11 years. Being exposed to paracetamol both in prenatal and postnatal period was associated with asthma development (unadjusted OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.87). Being exposed only in the postnatal period was also significantly associated with increased risk of asthma. No association between prenatal exposure only and outcome was found. A higher but non-significant risk of asthma was observed for those whose mothers used paracetamol during pregnancy compared with those who used aspirin. Conclusions: The main findings of this prospective birth cohort study add to previous observations linking prenatal and early postnatal paracetamol exposure to asthma development. However, the magnitude of effect is relatively modest, and therefore, we recommend paracetamol to remain the analgesic and antipyretic of choice throughout pregnancy and early childhood

The association between APOA5 haplotypes and plasma lipids is not modified by energy or fat intake: The Czech HAPIEE study.

Several smaller studies reported interactions between dietary factors and apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) gene polymorphisms in determination of plasma lipids. We tested interactions between APOA5 haplotypes and dietary intake in determination of plasma triglycerides (TG) and other lipids