Explore the vast range of titles available.

A large body of research indicates that child development is sensitive to early‐life environments, so that poor children are at higher risk for poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes. These developmental outcomes are important determinants of success in adulthood. Yet, remarkably little is known about whether poverty‐alleviation programs improve children’s developmental outcomes. We examine how a government‐run cash transfer program for poor mothers in rural Ecuador influenced the development of young children. Random assignment at the parish level is used to identify program effects. Our data include a set of measures of cognitive ability that are not typically included in experimental or quasi‐experimental studies of the impact of cash transfers on child well‐being, as well as a set of physical health measures that may be related to developmental outcomes. The cash transfer program had positive, although modest, effects on the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development of the poorest children in our sample.

Latino preschool children in the United States are at high risk for obesity. The objective of this study was to measure over a one-year period whether a parent training based on social learning theory combined with evidence-based interventions to promote optimal nutrition and physical activity will reduce the upward trend of BMI z-scores in groups of 2–4 year old Latino children living in low-income households. Seven weekly classes with 2 booster classes were delivered to low-income Latino parents with 2–4 year old children. A randomized controlled pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention that contrasts 61 children whose parents were randomized to receive Parent Training (PT) with 60 Wait-list (WL) subjects. Forty subjects did not attend the one-year follow up assessment, resulting in 81 subjects who have measurements for both baseline and one-year follow up assessments. To adjust for differential dropout rates and missing observations, imputation of missing data was done using a carefully constructed model that included relevant independent variables. There were no significant subject differences between groups at baseline for family characteristics and BMI categories for child and parent. Children in the intervention group decreased their BMI z-scores significantly on average by .20 (SE= .08) compared to children in the control group who increased z scores on average by .04 (SE=.09) at one year (P<.05). Parent training is effective to reduce the risk of overweight in preschool Latino children living in low-income households. The findings need to be examined in a larger sample of children.

The world's almost 400 million Indigenous people have low standards of health. This poor health is associated with poverty, malnutrition, overcrowding, poor hygiene, environmental contamination, and prevalent infections. Inadequate clinical care and health promotion, and poor disease prevention services aggravate this situation. Some Indigenous groups, as they move from traditional to transitional and modern lifestyles, are rapidly acquiring lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes, and physical, social, and mental disorders linked to misuse of alcohol and of other drugs. Correction of these inequities needs increased awareness, political commitment, and recognition rather than governmental denial and neglect of these serious and complex problems. Indigenous people should be encouraged, trained, and enabled to become increasingly involved in overcoming these challenges.

Child marriage is a substantial barrier to social and economic development in India, and a primary concern for women's health. We assessed the prevalence of child marriage—ie, before 18 years of age—in young adult women in India, and the associations between child marriage and women's fertility and fertility-control outcomes. Data from the National Family Health Survey-3 (2005–06) were limited to a sample of Indian women aged 20–24 years (n=22 807), of whom 14 813 had been or were presently married (ever-married). Prevalence of child marriage was estimated for the whole sample. We used regression models adjusted for demographics, and models adjusted for demographics and duration of marriage to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for the associations between child marriage and both fertility and fertility-control outcomes, in the ever-married subsample. 44·5% of women aged 20–24 years were married before age 18 years, 22·6% were married before age 16 years, and 2·6% were married before age 13 years. Child marriage was significantly associated with no contraceptive use before first childbirth (adjusted OR 1·37 [95% CI 1·22–1·54]), high fertility (three or more births) (7·40 [6·45–8·50]), a repeat childbirth in less than 24 months (3·00 [2·74–3·29]), multiple unwanted pregnancies (2·36 [1·90–2·94]), pregnancy termination (1·48 [1·34–1·63]), and female sterilisation (6·68 [5·78–7·60]). The association between child marriage and high fertility, a repeat childbirth in less than 24 months, multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy termination, and sterilisation all remained significant after controlling for duration of marriage. Increased enforcement of existing policies is crucial for prevention of child marriage. Improved family-planning education, access, and support are urgently needed for women married as children, their husbands, and their families to reduce the high fertility and poor fertility-control outcomes of this practice. US National Institutes of Health and Indian Council of Medical Research.

Although research has oft-documented a maltreatment–delinquency link, the effect of involvement in—and timing of—child welfare system involvement on offending has received less attention. We examine whether the timing of child welfare involvement has differential effects on recidivism of deep-end juvenile offenders (youth who have been adjudicated delinquent by the court and placed in juvenile justice residential programs). The current study uses a large, diverse sample of 12,955 youth completing juvenile justice residential programs between 1 January 2010 and 30 June 2013 in Florida (13 % female, 55 % Black, 11 % Hispanic). Additionally, we explore the direct effects of childhood traumatic events on delinquency, as well as their indirect effects through child welfare involvement using structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that adverse childhood experiences fail to exert a direct effect on recidivism, but do exhibit a significant indirect effect on recidivism through child welfare involvement, which is itself associated with recidivism. This means that while having exposures to more types of childhood traumatic events does not, in and of itself, increase the likelihood of re-offending, effects of such experiences operate through child welfare placement. Differences in the effects of maltreatment timing and of adverse childhood experiences are observed across sex and race/ethnicity subgroups. Across all racial subgroups, exposures to adverse childhood experiences have a significant effect on the likelihood of child welfare placement, yet child welfare placement exerts a significant effect on recidivism for White and Hispanic youth, but not for Black youth. Only Hispanic female and White male youth with overlapping child welfare and juvenile justice cases (open cases in both systems at the same time during the study period) were more likely to recidivate than their delinquent-only counterpart youth. Crossover status (child welfare and juvenile justice involvement, whether prior or open cases) was essentially irrelevant with respect to the re-offending of Black youth completing juvenile justice residential programs. The findings indicate the effects of exposure to adverse childhood experiences, and child welfare system and juvenile justice system involvement on re-offending are not uniform across subgroups of youth but that earlier child welfare involvement is more detrimental than concurrent child welfare system involvement when it does matter.

Improving neighborhood environments for children through community development and other interventions may help improve children's health and reduce inequities in health. A first step is to develop a population-level surveillance system of children's neighborhood environments. This article presents the newly developed Child Opportunity Index for the 100 largest US metropolitan areas. The index examines the extent of racial/ethnic inequity in the distribution of children across levels of neighborhood opportunity. We found that high concentrations of black and Hispanic children in the lowest-opportunity neighborhoods are pervasive across US metropolitan areas. We also found that 40 percent of black and 32 percent of Hispanic children live in very low-opportunity neighborhoods within their metropolitan area, compared to 9 percent of white children. This inequity is greater in some metropolitan areas, especially those with high levels of residential segregation. The Child Opportunity Index provides perspectives on child opportunity at the neighborhood and regional levels and can inform place-based community development interventions and non-place-based interventions that address inequities across a region. The index can also be used to meet new community data reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act.

Objectives. We aimed to describe socioeconomic disparities in the United States across multiple health indicators and socioeconomic groups. Methods. Using recent national data on 5 child (infant mortality, health status, activity limitation, healthy eating, sedentary adolescents) and 6 adult (life expectancy, health status, activity limitation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity) health indicators, we examined indicator rates across multiple income or education categories, overall and within racial/ethnic groups. Results. Those with the lowest income and who were least educated were consistently least healthy, but for most indicators, even groups with intermediate income and education levels were less healthy than the wealthiest and most educated. Gradient patterns were seen often among non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites but less consistently among Hispanics. Conclusions. Health in the United States is often, though not invariably, patterned strongly along both socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines, suggesting links between hierarchies of social advantage and health. Worse health among the most socially disadvantaged argues for policies prioritizing those groups, but pervasive gradient patterns also indicate a need to address a wider socioeconomic spectrum—which may help garner political support. Routine health reporting should examine socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparity patterns, jointly and separately.

Objectives. To assess the relationships between childhood lead exposure and 3 domains of later adolescent health: mental, physical, and behavioral. Methods. We followed a random sample of birth cohort members from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, recruited in 1995 to 1997, to age 17 years and matched to childhood blood test results from the Department of Public Health. We used ordinary least squares regression, coarsened exact matching, and instrumental variables to assess the relationship between average blood lead levels in childhood and impulsivity, anxiety or depression, and body mass index in adolescence. All models adjusted for relevant individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics. Results. After adjustment, a 1 microgram per deciliter increase in average childhood blood lead level significantly predicts 0.06 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01, 0.12) and 0.09 (95% CI = 0.03, 0.16) SD increases and a 0.37 (95% CI = 0.11, 0.64) point increase in adolescent impulsivity, anxiety or depression, and body mass index, respectively, following ordinary least squares regression. Results following matching and instrumental variable strategies are very similar. Conclusions. Childhood lead exposure undermines adolescent well-being, with implications for the persistence of racial and class inequalities, considering structural patterns of initial exposure.

The child-care and fertility hypothesis has been in the literature for a long time and is straightforward: As child care becomes more available, affordable, and acceptable, the antinatalist effects of increased female educational attainment and work opportunities decrease. As an increasing number of countries express concern about low fertility, the child-care and fertility hypothesis takes on increased importance. Yet data and statistical limitations have heretofore limited empirical tests of the hypothesis. Using rich longitudinal data and appropriate statistical methodology, we show that increased availability of child care increases completed fertility. Moreover, this positive effect of child-care availability is found at every parity transition. We discuss the generalizability of these results to other settings and their broader importance for understanding variation and trends in low fertility.

There has been little systematic empirical research on the well-being of children in transnational households in South-East Asia—a major sending region for contract migrants. This study uses survey data collected in 2008 from children aged 9, 10, and 11 and their caregivers in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam (N = 1,498). Results indicate that while children of migrant parents, especially migrant mothers, are less likely to be happy compared to children in nonmigrant households, greater resilience in child well-being is associated to longer durations of maternal absence. There is no evidence for a direct parental migration effect on school enjoyment and performance. The analyses highlight the sensitivity of results to the dimension of child well-being measured and who makes the assessment.