Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31909223›Full record

ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2019

Income inequality and social gradients in children's height: a comparison of cohort studies from five high-income countries.

Philippa K Bird, Kate E Pickett, Hilary Graham, Tomas Faresjö, Vincent W V Jaddoe, Johnny Ludvigsson, Hein Raat, Louise Seguin, Anne I Wijtzes, Jennifer J McGrath

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Inequalities in the Universal Right to Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Philippa K BirdDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, York, North Yorkshire, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9601-7979
Kate E PickettDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, York, North Yorkshire, UK.
Hilary GrahamDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, York, North Yorkshire, UK.
Tomas FaresjöDepartment of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Vincent W V JaddoeGeneration R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Johnny LudvigssonDivision of Pediatrics, Medical Faculty, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Hein RaatDepartment of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Louise SeguinDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Anne I WijtzesDepartment of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Jennifer J McGrathDepartment of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Erasmus MC · NLLinköping University · SEUniversity of York · GBConcordia University · CALeeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust · GBUniversité de Montréal · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHealth and well-being are better, on average, in countries that are more equal, but less is known about how this benefit is distributed across society. Height is a widely used, objective indicator of child health and predictor of lifelong well-being. We compared the level and slope of social gradients in children's height in high-income countries with different levels of income inequality, in order to investigate whether children growing up in all socioeconomic circumstances are healthier in more equal countries.

methodsWe conducted a coordinated analysis of data from five cohort studies from countries selected to represent different levels of income inequality (the USA, UK, Australia, the Netherlands and Sweden). We used standardised methods to compare social gradients in children's height at age 4-6 years, by parent education status and household income. We used linear regression models and predicted height for children with the same age, sex and socioeconomic circumstances in each cohort.

resultsThe total analytic sample was 37 063 children aged 4-6 years. Gradients by parent education and household income varied between cohorts and outcomes. After adjusting for differences in age and sex, children in more equal countries (Sweden, the Netherlands) were taller at all levels of parent education and household income than children in less equal countries (USA, UK and Australia), with the greatest between-country differences among children with less educated parents and lowest household incomes.

conclusionsThe study provides preliminary evidence that children across society do better in more equal countries, with greatest benefit among children from the most disadvantaged socioeconomic groups.

Indexed as

epidemiologygrowth

Identifiers

PMID31909223
PMCPMC6937032
OpenAlexW2990132047

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.