Kids in poor families are more likely to have unhealthy diets and spend more time watching TV
Children in families with low income and education levels are more often exposed to unhealthy habits, according to new research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
"Across national borders, we found that children from families with lower education and income were less likely to be breastfed. They were more likely to eat unhealthy food and spend more time in front of the TV. They were also more frequently exposed to passive smoking," says Jennifer Harris.
She is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's Centre for Fertility and Health. In the recent study, researchers from various countries analysed data from over 60,000 children in 11 European cities.
To understand the relationship between socioeconomic background and the environment in which children grow up, the researchers looked at the family's total income and the mother's level of education.
Even before starting school, children from low-income families generally score lower on factors that promote good health and a healthy diet.
"This doesn't mean that all children in low-income families receive more unhealthy food or are exposed to passive smoking, but that it's more common in low-income families than in families with higher income and education," Harris explains.
Among participants from Oslo, children of mothers with low education had almost five times the likelihood of being exposed to passive smoking compared to children of mothers with higher education.
Reference:
Pizzi et al. Socioeconomic position during pregnancy and pre-school exposome in children from eight European birth cohort studies, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 359, 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117275
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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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