ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2013
Higher maternal education is associated with favourable growth of young children in different countries.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Socioeconomic circumstances and respiratory function from childhood to early adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2019Pooled it
- Factors influencing obesogenic dietary intake in young children (0-6 years): systematic review of qualitative evidence.BMJ open · 2015Pooled it
- A Three-Arm, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety ofNutrients · 2023Trial
- Mechanisms linking parents' education level to adolescent gaming disorder among Chinese Special School students: serial mediating effects of emotional abuse experience and psychopathy.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Evaluating maternal self -efficacy in managing child obesity-related behaviors: A cross-sectional study.Health promotion perspectives · 2025Article
- Prevalence and predictors of short stature in children aged 3-18 years in Hainan Province, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Estimating the True Effect of Lifestyle Risk Factors for Myopia: A Longitudinal Study of UK Children.Translational vision science & technology · 2024Article
- Article
- Allostatic load in children: The cost of empathic concern.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Analyzing determinants from both compositional and contextual level impeding desired linear growth of children in Indian context.BMC nutrition · 2023Article
- Mental Health of Mothers of Children with Neurodevelopmental and Genetic Disorders in Pakistan.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The impact of maternal influences on childhood obesity.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Socio-economic disparities in child-to-adolescent growth trajectories in China: Findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 1991-2015.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2022Article
- Socioeconomic circumstances and lung function growth from early adolescence to early adulthood.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Prevalence of short stature among children in China: A systematic review.Pediatric investigation · 2021Article
- Relationships Between the Home Learning Environment, Weight Status, and Dietary Intake: Results From a Cross-Sectional Study of Preschool-Aged Children in New South Wales, Australia.The journal of primary prevention · 2021Article
- How do early-life adverse childhood experiences mediate the relationship between childhood socioeconomic conditions and adolescent health outcomes in the UK?Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2020Article
- Adherence to supplemental vitamin D intake and infant weight gain: a retrospective cohort study in rural southwestern China.The Journal of international medical research · 2020Article
- How do early-life factors explain social inequalities in adolescent mental health? Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2019Review
- Association between Maternal Education and School-Age Children Weight Status: A Study from the China Health Nutrition Survey, 2011.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChildhood growth affects long-term health and could contribute to health inequalities that persist throughout life.
methodsWe compared growth data of 4-year-old to 6-year-old children born 1997-2002 in UK (n=15,168), Sweden (n=6749) and rural China (n=10,327). SD scores (SDS) were calculated against the WHO Growth Standard. Obesity and overweight were defined by the International Obesity Taskforce cut-offs, and stunting, underweight and thinness by height, weight or body mass index (BMI)<-2 SDS. Associations with maternal education were standardised by calculating the Slope Index of Inequality (SII).
resultsMean SDS height, weight and BMI in the UK (-0.01, 0.42, 0.62, respectively) and Sweden (0.45, 0.59, 0.45) were higher than in China (-0.98, -0.82, -0.29). Higher maternal education was consistently associated with taller offspring height SDS (SII: UK 0.25; Sweden 0.17; China 1.06). Underweight and stunting were less common in the UK (prevalence: 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively) and Sweden (0.3% and 0.6%) than in China (9.5% and 16.4%), where these outcomes were inversely associated with maternal education (SII: -25.8% and -12.7%). Obesity prevalence in the UK, Sweden and China was 4.8%, 3.7% and 0.4%, respectively. Maternal education was inversely associated with offspring obesity in the UK (SII: -3.3%) and Sweden (-2.8%), but not in China (+0.3%).
conclusionsHigher maternal education was associated with more favourable growth in young children: lower obesity and overweight in the UK and Sweden, and lower stunting and underweight in rural China. Public health strategies to optimise growth in early childhood need to acknowledge socioeconomic factors, but possibly with a different emphasis in different settings.
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