IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0039798.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Head Circumference of Infants Born to Mothers with Different Educational Levels; The Generation R Study

Author

Listed:
  • Selma H Bouthoorn
  • Frank J van Lenthe
  • Anita C S Hokken-Koelega
  • Henriëtte A Moll
  • Henning Tiemeier
  • Albert Hofman
  • Johan P Mackenbach
  • Vincent W V Jaddoe
  • Hein Raat

Abstract

Objective: Head circumference (HC) reflect growth and development of the brain in early childhood. It is unknown whether socioeconomic differences in HC are present in early childhood. Therefore, we investigated the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and HC in early childhood, and potential underlying factors. Methods: The study focused on Dutch children born between April 2002 and January 2006 who participated in The Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Maternal educational level was used as indicator of SEP. HC measures were concentrated around 1, 3, 6 and 11 months. Associations and explanatory factors were investigated using linear regression analysis, adjusted for potential mediators. Results: The study included 3383 children. At 1, 3 and 6 months of age, children of mothers with a low education had a smaller HC than those with a high education (difference at 1 month: −0.42 SD; 95% CI: −0.54,−0.30; at 3 months: −0.27 SD; 95% CI −0.40,−0.15; and at 6 months: −0.13 SD; 95% CI −0.24,−0.02). Child’s length and weight could only partially explain the smaller HC at 1 and 3 months of age. At 6 months, birth weight, gestational age and parental height explained the HC differences. At 11 months, no HC differences were found. Conclusion: Educational inequalities in HC in the first 6 months of life can be mainly explained by pregnancy-related factors, such as birth weight and gestational age. These findings further support public health policies to prevent negative birth outcomes in lower socioeconomic groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Selma H Bouthoorn & Frank J van Lenthe & Anita C S Hokken-Koelega & Henriëtte A Moll & Henning Tiemeier & Albert Hofman & Johan P Mackenbach & Vincent W V Jaddoe & Hein Raat, 2012. "Head Circumference of Infants Born to Mothers with Different Educational Levels; The Generation R Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-9, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0039798
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039798
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039798
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0039798&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0039798?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Winkleby, M.A. & Jatulis, D.E. & Frank, E. & Fortmann, S.P., 1992. "Socioeconomic status and health: How education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 82(6), pages 816-820.
    2. Bobak, M. & Kriz, B. & Leon, D.A. & Danova, J. & Marmot, M., 1994. "Socioeconomic factors and height of preschool children in the Czech Republic," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(7), pages 1167-1170.
    3. Bruna Galobardes & Valerie A McCormack & Peter McCarron & Laura D Howe & John Lynch & Debbie A Lawlor & George Davey Smith, 2012. "Social Inequalities in Height: Persisting Differences Today Depend upon Height of the Parents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Lopuszanska-Dawid, M. & Kołodziej, H. & Lipowicz, A. & Szklarska, A. & Kopiczko, A. & Bielicki, T., 2020. "Social class-specific secular trends in height among 19-year old Polish men: 6th national surveys from 1965 till 2010," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    2. Jake M. Najman & William Wang & Maria Plotnikova & Abdullah A. Mamun & David McIntyre & Gail M. Williams & James G. Scott & William Bor & Alexandra M. Clavarino, 0. "Poverty over the early life course and young adult cardio-metabolic risk," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-10.
    3. M. Vernay & B. Salanave & C. Peretti & C. Druet & A. Malon & V. Deschamps & S. Hercberg & K. Castetbon, 2013. "Metabolic syndrome and socioeconomic status in France: The French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS, 2006–2007)," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(6), pages 855-864, December.
    4. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "The intended and unintended consequences of large electricity subsidies: evidence from Mongolia," Discussion Papers 2202, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    5. Chunping Han, 2014. "Health Implications of Socioeconomic Characteristics, Subjective Social Status, and Perceptions of Inequality: An Empirical Study of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 495-514, November.
    6. Wenjian Zhou & Jianming Hou & Meng Sun & Chang Wang, 2022. "The Impact of Family Socioeconomic Status on Elderly Health in China: Based on the Frailty Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Manka Eunice Fuh & Brice Wilfried Obiang-Obounou*, 2019. "Overview of Migrant Women’s Health in South Korea: Policy Recommendations," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(3), pages 709-714, 03-2019.
    8. Melissa P L Chan & Robert S Weinhold & Reuben Thomas & Julia M Gohlke & Christopher J Portier, 2015. "Environmental Predictors of US County Mortality Patterns on a National Basis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Benedicte Apouey & Andrew E. Clark, 2015. "Winning Big but Feeling no Better? The Effect of Lottery Prizes on Physical and Mental Health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(5), pages 516-538, May.
    10. Ching-Jung Yu & Jung-Chieh Du & Hsien-Chih Chiou & Chun-Cheng Feng & Ming-Yi Chung & Winnie Yang & Ying-Sheue Chen & Ling-Chu Chien & Betau Hwang & Mei-Lien Chen, 2016. "Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Is Adversely Associated with Childhood Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    11. Yang Xiao & Yanjie Bian & Lei Zhang, 2020. "Mental Health of Chinese Online Networkers under COVID-19: A Sociological Analysis of Survey Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Apouey, Bénédicte & Geoffard, Pierre-Yves, 2013. "Family income and child health in the UK," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 715-727.
    13. Patricia Rarau & Justin Pulford & Hebe Gouda & Suparat Phuanukoonon & Chris Bullen & Robert Scragg & Bang Nguyen Pham & Barbara McPake & Brian Oldenburg, 2019. "Socio-economic status and behavioural and cardiovascular risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, January.
    14. Carlo Castellana, 2012. "Impact of the economic crisis on the Italian public healthcare expenditure," Papers 1205.2863, arXiv.org.
    15. Mejía-Guevara, Iván, 2015. "Economic inequality and intergenerational transfers: Evidence from Mexico," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 5(C), pages 23-32.
    16. Amélie Adeline & Ismaël Choinière Crèvecoeur & Raquel Fonseca & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2019. "Income Volatility, Health and Well-Being," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 1906, Chaire de recherche sur les enjeux économiques intergénérationnels / Research Chair in Intergenerational Economics.
    17. Grant Johnston, 2004. "Healthy, wealthy and wise? A review of the wider benefits of education," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    18. Stacey, Brian, 2015. "Econometric Predictions From Demographic Factors Affecting Overall Health," MPRA Paper 68915, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Dec 2015.
    19. Leibowitz, Arleen A., 2004. "The demand for health and health concerns after 30 years," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 663-671, July.
    20. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Chi Zhang & Shunsuke Managi, 2020. "Impact of Gaps in the Educational Levels between Married Partners on Health and a Sustainable Lifestyle: Evidence from 32 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0039798. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.