Pregnancy, diet, physical activity, screens… In France, health inequalities develop from early childhood.
- 94% of female managers say they have not smoked during their pregnancy, compared to 66% of female workers.
- Children from privileged families have a healthier diet, practice extra-curricular sports more often and spend less time in front of screens.
- On the other hand, at the end of adolescence, the consumption of psychoactive substances, in particular alcoholic beverages, is more frequent in favored social environments, with the exception of daily smoking.
“Social inequalities in health appear before birth and widen during childhood”, find INSEE experts in a new report. This tendency is counteracted at the end of adolescence, when advantaged children consume more alcohol and more drugs.
INSEE first of all observes differences in prenatal follow-up and risky behaviors for the unborn child. Thus, 94% of female executives declare that they have not smoked during their pregnancy, compared to 66% of female workers. From early childhood, health inequalities develop. At 6 years old, children from a modest social background are more often overweight and this persists more clearly during childhood and adolescence.
Children from advantaged families have a healthier diet
Lifestyle habits, cultural and economic factors, as well as environmental exposure contribute to increasing health inequalities during childhood. Thus, children from advantaged families have a healthier diet, practice extra-curricular sports more often and spend less time in front of screens.
In 2015, 8% of children of managers compared to 16% of children of workers in CM2 spend at least two hours a day in front of a screen during the week. Consulting a dentist as a preventive measure is less frequent among children from modest families and, in CM2 as in third year, pupils in priority education have twice as often as others uncorrected distance vision disorders (10% against 5 % excluding priority education in third in 2017).
The consumption of psychoactive substances is more frequent in privileged social environments
On the other hand, at the end of adolescence, the consumption of psychoactive substances, in particular alcoholic beverages, is more frequent in favored social environments, with the exception of daily smoking. At 17, adolescents from privileged families also perceive themselves to be in good health more often than those from disadvantaged families.
“Social inequalities in health are already well established at the start of adult life and will have consequences on health throughout life, in particular due to the development of risk factors”, conclude the analysts.
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