IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v16y2015icp60-72.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decomposing socioeconomic inequalities in childhood obesity: Evidence from Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Walsh, Brendan
  • Cullinan, John

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to quantify and decompose the socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland. The analysis is performed using data from the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland survey, a nationally representative survey of 8568 nine-year-old children conducted in 2007 and 2008. We estimate concentration indices to quantify the extent of the socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity and undertake a subsequent decomposition analysis to pinpoint the key factors underpinning the observed inequalities. Overall the results confirm a strong socioeconomic gradient in childhood obesity in the Republic of Ireland. Concentration indices of obesity (CI=−0.168) and overweight/obese (CI=−0.057) show that the gradient is more pronounced in obese children, while results from the decomposition analysis suggest that the majority of the inequality in childhood obesity is explained by parental level variables. Our findings suggest that addressing childhood obesity inequalities requires coordinated policy responses at both the child and parental level.

Suggested Citation

  • Walsh, Brendan & Cullinan, John, 2015. "Decomposing socioeconomic inequalities in childhood obesity: Evidence from Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 60-72.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:16:y:2015:i:c:p:60-72
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2014.01.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X14000264
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ehb.2014.01.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    2. David Madden, 2013. "The Socio-Economic Gradient Of Obesity In Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 181-196.
    3. Cawley, John, 2008. "Contingent valuation analysis of willingness to pay to reduce childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 281-292, July.
    4. Chrzanowska, Maria & Koziel, Slawomir & Ulijaszek, Stanlej J., 2007. "Changes in BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Cracow, Poland, 1971-2000," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 370-378, December.
    5. Forste, Renata & Moore, Erin, 2012. "Adolescent obesity and life satisfaction: Perceptions of self, peers, family, and school," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 385-394.
    6. van Doorslaer, Eddy & Wagstaff, Adam & Bleichrodt, Han & Calonge, Samuel & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Gerfin, Michael & Geurts, Jose & Gross, Lorna & Hakkinen, Unto & Leu, Robert E., 1997. "Income-related inequalities in health: some international comparisons," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 93-112, February.
    7. Andrew Jones & Ángel López Nicolás, 2006. "Allowing for heterogeneity in the decomposition of measures of inequality in health," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(3), pages 347-365, December.
    8. Brendan Walsh & Mary Silles & Ciaran O'Neill, 2012. "The Role Of Private Medical Insurance In Socio‐Economic Inequalities In Cancer Screening Uptake In Ireland," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(10), pages 1250-1256, October.
    9. Kjellsson, Gustav & Gerdtham, Ulf-G., 2013. "On correcting the concentration index for binary variables," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 659-670.
    10. Erreygers, Guido & Van Ourti, Tom, 2011. "Measuring socioeconomic inequality in health, health care and health financing by means of rank-dependent indices: A recipe for good practice," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 685-694, July.
    11. Classen, Timothy J., 2010. "Measures of the intergenerational transmission of body mass index between mothers and their children in the United States, 1981-2004," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 30-43, March.
    12. Chen, Zhuo & Roy, Kakoli, 2009. "Calculating concentration index with repetitive values of indicators of economic welfare," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 169-175, January.
    13. Cawley, John & Meyerhoefer, Chad, 2012. "The medical care costs of obesity: An instrumental variables approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 219-230.
    14. Sandy, Robert & Tchernis, Rusty & Wilson, Jeffrey & Liu, Gilbert & Zhou, Xilin, 2013. "Effects of the built environment on childhood obesity: The case of urban recreational trails and crime," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 18-29.
    15. Eddy van Doorslaer & Xander Koolman, 2004. "Explaining the differences in income‐related health inequalities across European countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(7), pages 609-628, July.
    16. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Eddy van Doorslaer & Xander Koolman & Andrew M. Jones, 2004. "Explaining income‐related inequalities in doctor utilisation in Europe," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(7), pages 629-647, July.
    18. Fiese, Barbara H. & Hammons, Amber & Grigsby-Toussaint, Diana, 2012. "Family mealtimes: A contextual approach to understanding childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 365-374.
    19. Eimear Keane & Richard Layte & Janas Harrington & Patricia M Kearney & Ivan J Perry, 2012. "Measured Parental Weight Status and Familial Socio-Economic Status Correlates with Childhood Overweight and Obesity at Age 9," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(8), pages 1-9, August.
    20. Tamás Bartus, 2005. "Estimation of marginal effects using margeff," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 5(3), pages 309-329, September.
    21. Anderson, Patricia M., 2012. "Parental employment, family routines and childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 340-351.
    22. Anne Case & Darren Lubotsky & Christina Paxson, 2002. "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1308-1334, December.
    23. Edel Doherty & Anne Dee & Ciaran O’Neill, 2012. "Estimating the Amount of Overweight and Obesity Related Health-Care Use in the Republic of Ireland Using SLÁN Data," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 227-250.
    24. Kakwani, Nanak & Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 1997. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health: Measurement, computation, and statistical inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 87-103, March.
    25. Xander Koolman & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2004. "On the interpretation of a concentration index of inequality," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(7), pages 649-656, July.
    26. Classen, Timothy & Hokayem, Charles, 2005. "Childhood influences on youth obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 165-187, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Datis Khajeheian & Amir Mohammad Colabi & Nordiana Binti Ahmad Kharman Shah & Che Wan Jasimah Bt Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, 2018. "Effect of Social Media on Child Obesity: Application of Structural Equation Modeling with the Taguchi Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Madden, David, 2017. "Childhood obesity and maternal education in Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 114-125.
    3. Farrell, Niall, 2017. "What Factors Drive Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence? Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence in Ireland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 31-45.
    4. Slawa Rokicki & Mark E. McGovern, 2020. "Heterogeneity in Early Life Investments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Children's Time Use," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 647-676, September.
    5. James, Adrian & Mendolia, Silvia & Paloyo, Alfredo R., 2021. "Income-based inequality of adolescent obesity in Australia," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    6. Cullinan, John & Cawley, John, 2017. "Parental misclassification of child overweight/obese status: The role of parental education and parental weight status," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 92-103.
    7. David (David Patrick) Madden, 2017. "Mind the Gap: Revisiting the Concentration Index for Overweight," Working Papers 201722, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    8. Hamman, Mary K., 2021. "Disparities in COVID-19 mortality by county racial composition and the role of spring social distancing measures," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    9. Michael Osei Mireku & Alina Rodriguez, 2020. "Family Income Gradients in Adolescent Obesity, Overweight and Adiposity Persist in Extremely Deprived and Extremely Affluent Neighbourhoods but Not in Middle-Class Neighbourhoods: Evidence from the UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, January.
    10. Hui Huang & Che Wan Jasimah bt Wan Mohamed Radzi & Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, 2017. "Family Environment and Childhood Obesity: A New Framework with Structural Equation Modeling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, February.
    11. Niall Farrell, 2024. "Small Area Poverty Estimation by Conditional Monte Carlo," Papers WP773, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    12. Antelo, Manel & Magdalena, Pilar & Reboredo, Juan C., 2017. "Obesity: A major problem for Spanish minors," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 61-73.
    13. Esha Bansal & Donatella Placidi & Shaye Carver & Stefano Renzetti & Augusto Giorgino & Giuseppa Cagna & Silvia Zoni & Chiara Fedrighi & Miriana Montemurro & Manuela Oppini & Michele Conversano & Stefa, 2019. "Metabolic Outcomes in Southern Italian Preadolescents Residing Near an Industrial Complex: The Role of Residential Location and Socioeconomic Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, June.
    14. Pasqualini, M. & Lanari, D. & Minelli, L. & Pieroni, L. & Salmasi, L., 2017. "Health and income inequalities in Europe: What is the role of circumstances?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 164-173.
    15. Edberg, Dana & Mukhopadhyay, Sankar & Wendel, Jeanne, 2019. "Incentive design to boost health for juveniles with Medicaid coverage: Evidence from a field experiment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 101-115.
    16. John Cullinan & Paddy Gillespie, 2016. "Does Overweight and Obesity Impact on Self‐Rated Health? Evidence Using Instrumental Variables Ordered Probit Models," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(10), pages 1341-1348, October.
    17. Dasgupta, Kabir & Solomon, Keisha T., 2018. "Family size effects on childhood obesity: Evidence on the quantity-quality trade-off using the NLSY," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 42-55.
    18. Smyth, Emer & Banks, Joanne & O’Sullivan, Jessica & McCoy, Selina & Redmond, Paul & McGuinness, Seamus, 2019. "Evaluation of the National Youthreach Programme," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS82.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. FLEURBAEY, Marc & SCHOKKAERT, Erik, 2011. "Equity in health and health care," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2011026, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    2. Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Lundborg, Petter & Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Nystedt, Paul, 2012. "Do Socioeconomic Factors Really Explain Income-Related Inequalities in Health? Applying a Twin Design to Standard Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 2012:21, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Martin Siegel & Karl Mosler, 2014. "Semiparametric Modeling Of Age‐Specific Variations In Income Related Health Inequalities," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(7), pages 870-878, July.
    4. Martin Siegel & Andreas Mielck & Werner Maier, 2015. "Individual Income, Area Deprivation, and Health: Do Income‐Related Health Inequalities Vary by Small Area Deprivation?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(11), pages 1523-1530, November.
    5. Teresa Bago d'Uva & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O'Donnell, 2008. "Does reporting heterogeneity bias the measurement of health disparities?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 351-375, March.
    6. H. Eme Ichoku & William Fonta & Michael Thiede, 2011. "Socioeconomic gradients in self-rated health: a developing country case study of Enugu State, Nigeria," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 179-202, August.
    7. Costa-Font, Joan & Gil, Joan, 2013. "Intergenerational and socioeconomic gradients of child obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 29-37.
    8. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Wifo, 2015. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 8/2015," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(8), August.
    10. John E. Ataguba, 2022. "A short note revisiting the concentration index: Does the normalization of the concentration index matter?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1506-1512, July.
    11. A. Akhtar & Nadeem Ahmad & Indrani Roy Chowdhury, 2020. "Socio-economic inequality in catastrophic health expenditure among households in India: A decomposition analysis," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 339-369, December.
    12. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Wuebker, Ansgar, 2013. "Assessing inequalities in preventive care use in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 247-257.
    13. Dolores Jiménez‐Rubio & Peter C. Smith & Eddy Van Doorslaer, 2008. "Equity in health and health care in a decentralised context: evidence from Canada," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 377-392, March.
    14. Thomas Leoni, 2015. "Soziale Unterschiede in Gesundheit und Inanspruchnahme der Gesundheitsversorgung," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(8), pages 649-662, August.
    15. Eddy van Doorslaer & Andrew M. Jones, 2004. "Income‐related inequality in health and health care in the European Union," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(7), pages 605-608, July.
    16. Heckley, Gawain & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Kjellsson, Gustav, 2016. "A general method for decomposing the causes of socioeconomic inequality in health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 89-106.
    17. David Cantarero & Marta Pascual & Jose Maria Sarabia, 2004. "Can income inequality contribute to understand inequalities in health? An empirical approach based on the European Community Household Panel," ERSA conference papers ersa04p230, European Regional Science Association.
    18. Brendan Walsh & Mary Silles & Ciaran O'Neill, 2012. "The Role Of Private Medical Insurance In Socio‐Economic Inequalities In Cancer Screening Uptake In Ireland," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(10), pages 1250-1256, October.
    19. Mohammad Habibullah Pulok & Kees Gool & Mohammad Hajizadeh & Sara Allin & Jane Hall, 2020. "Measuring horizontal inequity in healthcare utilisation: a review of methodological developments and debates," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(2), pages 171-180, March.
    20. Fleurbaey, Marc & Schokkaert, Erik, 2009. "Unfair inequalities in health and health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 73-90, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:16:y:2015:i:c:p:60-72. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.