ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Western Pacific2021
Assessing the Inequality of Early Child Development in China - A Population-Based Study.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Family ecological influences on early childhood development in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Parental depressive symptoms and shared reading practices among preschool children in western China: cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Maternal parenting behavioural profiles and developmental outcomes in early years: a latent profile analysis in rural China.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Parents' divorce and early child development: a population-based study in China.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- The impact of maternal parenting stress on early childhood development: the mediating role of maternal depression and the moderating effect of family resilience.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Association Between Family Planning and Early Childhood Development: Secondary Analysis of the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effect of medical insurance policy on child health indicators: an empirical test of difference-in-differences model.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Parenting and stimulation for child development at home: perspectives from Nurturing Care.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2025Article
- Inequality of opportunity in child nutrition in Pakistan.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Maternal depression and early childhood development among children aged 24-59 months: the mediating effect of responsive caregiving.Annals of general psychiatry · 2024Article
- Roles of caregiver-child interaction on the association of socioeconomic status with early childhood development: a population-based study in rural China.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Types of On-Screen Content and Mental Health in Kindergarten Children.JAMA pediatrics · 2024Article
- Perspectives on early childhood development in China: key dimensions and contextual contributions.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with pentavalent vaccination: a cross-sectional study in Southern China.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Article
- Prevalence, co-occurring difficulties, and risk factors of developmental language disorder: first evidence for Mandarin-speaking children in a population-based study.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic and education-based inequality in suspected developmental delays among Nepalese children: a subnational level assessment.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Association of perinatal factors with suspected developmental delay in urban children aged 1-36 months - a large-scale cross-sectional study in China.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Structural Determinants of Child Health in Rural China: The Challenge of Creating Health Equity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Siblings and Early Childhood Development: Evidence from a Population-Based Cohort in Preschoolers from Shanghai.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAs a country with the second largest child population in the world, China has little population-level evidence on who has been left behind in early childhood development (ECD). Knowledge of inequalities in ECD will inform the Chinese government in policies on promoting ECD and guide global-level monitoring on ECD progress.
methodsUsing data from the first wave of ECD surveys conducted in China at the least-developed region, most-developed region, and a megacity (Shanghai) in 2017 and 2018, we measured population-level ECD with early Human Capability Index for a total of 63,559 children aged 36-59 months old. A child was classified as developmentally on track if his/her overall development score was above the 20
findingsChildren developmentally on track ranges from 71% (95% CI 70 to 72%) in the least-developed region, 82% (95% CI 81 to 83%) in the most-developed region, and 86% (95% CI 85 to 87%) in Shanghai. Significant unadjusted inequalities in ECD were observed in all five dimensions. After controlling for other socioeconomic factors, significant differences remained in three dimensions: those living in the poorest families, or with lower maternal schooling, or boys were less likely to be developmentally on track than their counterparts (lower by 10[95% CI 8 to 11]-15[95% CI 13 to 17], 7[95% CI 5 to 10]-10[95% CI 7 to 12], and 5[95% CI 4 to 6]-6[95% CI 5 to 8] percentage points respectively).
interpretationEfforts of reducing ECD inequalities in China shall focus primarily on reducing poverty and improving maternal education.
fundingNational Natural Science Foundation of China (81773443), Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (2018SHZDZX05), Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (GWV-10.1-XK07; GDEK201708), Shanghai Education Committee, Chinese Social Science Foundation (BFA140046), Macao Tong Chai Charity Association, Beijing Sany Charitable Foundation, China Medical Board (#20-388), UNICEF, Faculty Grant of Brigham & Women's Hospital, Economic and Social Research Council [grant reference number ES/T003936/1'] as a UKRI Collective Fund Award "UKRI GCRF Harnessing the Power of Global Data to Support Young Children's Learning and Development Collaborative."
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