IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i22p11948-d678683.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Living with Grandparents Affect Children’s and Adolescents’ Health? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Jian Yu

    (China Academy for Rural Development, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Zhonggen Zhang

    (China Academy for Rural Development, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

Abstract

The level of nutritional health of children and adolescents is an important indicator of social development, and grandparents, as common co-caregivers, may have a considerable impact on the health level of their grandchildren. In this paper, we investigated the effects of grandparents’ coresidence on children’s and adolescents’ nutritional health levels using the CHNS (China Health and Nutrition Survey) database using the PSM (Propensity Score Matching) method’ and identified heterogeneity in the effects of grandparents’ coresidence by PSM grouping in terms of urban and rural areas, age, and the mothers’ education level. It was found that grandparents’ coresidence is beneficial for children’s and adolescents’ health to a certain extent. Overfeeding and spoil that many people worried when grandparents involved in childcare did not happen in our samples. Moreover, grandparents’ coresidence had a more significant effect on the health level of children and adolescents in rural areas at a younger age and with a lower level of maternal education. Government and families should put more effort into equipping caregivers with knowledge on how to raise their grandchildren better.

Suggested Citation

  • Jian Yu & Zhonggen Zhang, 2021. "Does Living with Grandparents Affect Children’s and Adolescents’ Health? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-15, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11948-:d:678683
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11948/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11948/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Thomas, Duncan & Lavy, Victor & Strauss, John, 1996. "Public policy and anthropometric outcomes in the Cote d'Ivoire," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 155-192, August.
    3. Chen, Yuyu & Li, Hongbin, 2009. "Mother's education and child health: Is there a nurturing effect?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 413-426, March.
    4. He, Qinying & Li, Xun & Wang, Rui, 2018. "Childhood obesity in China: Does grandparents’ coresidence matter?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 56-63.
    5. Thomas, Duncan & Strauss, John, 1992. "Prices, infrastructure, household characteristics and child height," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 301-331, October.
    6. Jalan, Jyotsna & Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Does piped water reduce diarrhea for children in rural India?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 153-173, January.
    7. repec:pri:cheawb:case_paxson_economic_status_paper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Alviola, Pedro A. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Thomsen, Michael R. & Danforth, Diana & Smartt, James, 2014. "The effect of fast-food restaurants on childhood obesity: A school level analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 110-119.
    9. 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.
    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. Acacia R. Lopez & Danielle K. Nadorff & Delaney Peters, 2023. "The Twelve Ds: An Update to Edwards and Benson’s Reasons for Non-Parental Caregiving," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-14, April.

    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. Calzada, Joan & Iranzo Sancho, Susana, 2012. "Neither Private nor Public: The Effects of Communal Provision of Water on Child Health in Peru," Working Papers 2072/196649, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    2. Okada, Keisuke, 2012. "The effects of female HIV/AIDS status on fertility and child health in Cambodia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 560-570.
    3. Mariapia Mendola & Mengesha Yayo Negasi, 2019. "Nutritional and Schooling Impact of a Cash Transfer Program in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Experience," Development Working Papers 451, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    4. Subha Mani, 2012. "Is there Complete, Partial, or No Recovery from Childhood Malnutrition? – Empirical Evidence from Indonesia," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(5), pages 691-715, October.
    5. Deniz Karaoğlan & Dürdane Şirin Saraçoğlu, 2018. "Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Early Childhood Health: the Case of Turkey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 1051-1075, June.
    6. Liu, Hong & Fang, Hai & Zhao, Zhong, 2013. "Urban–rural disparities of child health and nutritional status in China from 1989 to 2006," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 294-309.
    7. Richard Akresh & Philip Verwimp & Tom Bundervoet, 2011. "Civil War, Crop Failure, and Child Stunting in Rwanda," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 777-810.
    8. Deniz Karaoğlan & Dürdane Şirin Saracoğlu, 2016. "Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Early Childhood Health: The Case of Turkey," ERC Working Papers 1614, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised 2016.
    9. Marion Davin & Emmanuelle Lavaine, 2021. "The role of health at birth and parental investment in early child development: evidence from the French ELFE cohort," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(8), pages 1217-1237, November.
    10. Goode, Alison & Mavromaras, Kostas & zhu, Rong, 2014. "Family income and child health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    11. Penders, Christopher L. & Staatz, John M., 2001. "The Impact Of Household Level Determinants Of Child Health And Nutrition: Cross-Country Evidence From West Africa," Staff Paper Series 11579, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    12. Richard Akresh & Philip Verwimp, 2006. "Civil War, Crop Failure, and the Health Status of Young Children," HiCN Working Papers 19, Households in Conflict Network.
    13. Liu, Haoming, 2008. "The impact of women's power on child quality in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 101-115, March.
    14. Attanasio, Orazio & Gomez, Luis Carlos & Rojas, Ana Gomez & Vera-Hernandez, Marcos, 2004. "Child health in rural Colombia: determinants and policy interventions," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 411-438, December.
    15. Aslam, Monazza & Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi, 2012. "Parental Education and Child Health—Understanding the Pathways of Impact in Pakistan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 2014-2032.
    16. Lamichhane, Dirga Kumar & Mangyo, Eiji, 2011. "Water accessibility and child health: Use of the leave-out strategy of instruments," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1000-1010.
    17. Divya Balasubramaniam & Santanu Chatterjee & David B. Mustard, 2020. "Public Versus Private Investment in Determining Child Health Outcomes: Evidence from India," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(1), pages 28-60, June.
    18. Aizawa, Toshiaki, 2021. "Inequality of opportunity in infant mortality in South Asia: A decomposition analysis of survival data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    19. Matthias Rieger & Sofia Karina Trommlerová, 2016. "Age-Specific Correlates of Child Growth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 241-267, February.
    20. Liu, Hong & Zhao, Zhong, 2014. "Parental job loss and children's health: Ten years after the massive layoff of the SOEs' workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 303-319.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:11948-:d:678683. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.