The strength of the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) and adult health is an important indicator of health stratification and the degree to which health outcomes are determined early in life. However, changes in the strength of this association over historic time are largely unexamined in the United States. Utilizing data from two independent national samples of adults collected 17 years apart (1995 and 2012), the current study examined changes in the strength of the association between childhood SED and adult health. Childhood SED was scored as an aggregate index from measures of parent occupational prestige, childhood poverty exposure, and parent education. Five measures of adult health were considered: BMI, waist circumference, chronic conditions, functional limitations, and self-rated health. Results indicated that the association between childhood SED and all five health outcomes was significantly stronger in the 2012 sample than the 1995 sample, with the magnitude of the association being more than twice as large in the more recent sample for four out of five outcomes. Findings persisted after adjusting for age, sex, race, marital status, and number of children. Results suggest that the socioeconomic circumstances of childhood have become a stronger predictor of adult health in recent decades. Replication and examination of mechanisms for these effects vis-à-vis changing pathways from childhood SED to adult health through adult status attainments, work environment characteristics, or unfair treatment, is warranted.
Early growth and adult health outcomes - lessons learned from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study
